30

30
Studio album by Adele
Released	November 19, 2021
Recorded	2019–2021
Genre	Pop, soul, jazz, R&B
Length	58:14
Label	Columbia Records
Producer(s)	Shawn Everett, Ludwig Göransson, Inflo, Tobias Jesso Jr., Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Shellback
Adele chronology
(2015) (2021)
Singles from 30
“Easy On Me” Released: October 15, 2021 “Oh My God” Released: November 29, 2021 “I Drink Wine” Released: October 26, 2022
Alternative cover
Physical release with album title.

30 is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on November 19, 2021 by Melted Stone and Columbia Records. Serving as the follow-up album to her 2015 release, 25, it was originally expected to be released in September 2020, but was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by Adele’s divorce from ex-husband Simon Konecki, the album explores themes of separation, motherhood and the scrutiny of fame. Adele wrote the album between 2018 and 2021 with various producers, including Greg Kurstin, Tobias Jesso Jr., Max Martin and Shellback, all of whom she worked with on 25; new collaborators on 30 include Ludwig Göransson and Inflo.

The lead single, “Easy On Me,” was released on October 15, 2021 to international success. 30 has been advertised using an extensive promotional campaign, which included a CBS concert special titled Adele One Night Only featuring an interview segment by American talk show host Oprah Winfrey, followed by an ITV concert special titled An Audience with Adele. She also has two British Summer Time Hyde Park concerts scheduled for 1–2 July 2022 to promote the album.

Upon release, the album received widespread critical acclaim from music critics, who commended its cinematic instrumentation and strong vocal performances, and dubbed its subject matter as Adele’s most honest yet. 30 has been described as a record of pop, jazz and soul ballads focusing on romantic but melancholic themes of heartache, acceptance, and hope. American jazz pianist Erroll Garner is posthumously credited as a featured artist on the track “All Night Parking,” marking the first guest act on a standard album by Adele.

Background

At a show in Belfast during her Adele Live 2016 tour, Adele mentioned the possibility of debuting new material toward the tour’s conclusion, indicating a potentially shorter break between albums, though this never came to fruition. In the program for the tour’s finale dates at Wembley Stadium, Adele revealed that she may never tour again. She initially had four concerts planned at the venue, which were rumored to be used for a tour DVD, but the final two performances were cancelled after Adele suffered damage to her vocal cords. Her agent Lucy Dickins later released a statement to Music Week, reassuring reporters that Adele’s statement on her touring future was not definitive.

In March 2019, Adele visited a drag bar in New York with friend Jennifer Lawrence, during which she told those in attendance, “I’m working,” presumably in reference to new music. A few days later, she was spotted entering a recording studio in New York, seemingly confirming reports that she was working on a new album. Dickins later confirmed that Adele was writing new material for a new album, but that “we’re definitely not in a [touring] situation yet.”

In April 2019, Adele announced her separation from husband Simon Konecki, prompting speculation that their breakup would inspire new music. On her 31st birthday, Adele seemingly alluded to these rumors in a post on Instagram: “Bunch of fucking savages, 30 will be a drum and bass record to spite you.”

In a January 2020 interview, Lucy and Jonathan Dickins confirmed new music from Adele should be expected later in the year. While performing at her best friend Laura Dockrill’s wedding, Adele said the album would be released in September. However, Dickins later retracted these statements, confirming that work on the album had been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adele reaffirmed this in a comment on Instagram after being asked about an imminent album release, writing, “Of course it’s not [being released yet]. Corona ain’t over. I’m quarantining. Wear a mask and be patient.”

Themes

In her interviews with the American and British publications of Vogue for their November 2021 issues, Adele confirmed that, while it wasn’t the sole focus of the album, much of 30 was inspired by her divorce from Simon Konecki and its effects on her and her relationship with her son, Angelo. “It’s sensitive for me, this record, just in how much I love it,” Adele said of the album. “I always say that 21 doesn’t belong to me anymore. Everyone else took it into their hearts so much. I’m not letting go of this one. This is my album. I want to share myself with everyone, but I don’t think I’ll ever let this one go.” During an Instagram Live on October 9, 2021, Adele reiterated that 30 would center on her divorce.

Adele noted that 30 is more introspective than her previous efforts. “I feel like this album is self-destruction, then self-reflection and then sort of self-redemption,” she said. “I really want people to hear my side of the story this time.”

Title

Early on in the promotion for 25, Adele revealed that she planned to stop naming albums after her age. However, on her 31st birthday, Adele published a rare social media post in which she — seemingly jokingly — referred to her next album as 30, alluding to the theme of her previous three albums’ titles.

After a series of billboards with “30” written on them appeared in various locations throughout the world on October 1, Rolling Stone speculated that Adele’s forthcoming studio album would in fact be titled 30. Adele seemingly confirmed this when her website and social media accounts were updated the following Monday, October 4, matching the color scheme seen on the advertisements. On October 13, 2021, she officially announced that her fourth studio album would be titled 30.

Production

Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Shellback and Tobias Jesso Jr. — all of whom worked with Adele on 25 — have been confirmed to have songs on the album, while additional collaborations include Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson and London-based producer Inflo.

Similarly to Adele’s previous albums, the vocal tracks used on 30 are original demos.

Release and promotion

On October 18, 2020, Adele confirmed she would be hosting the October 24 episode of Saturday Night Live, reinvigorating fans’ hope that new music would be imminent. However, during the episode, Adele confirmed that her fourth studio album was not yet finished. She later hinted via an Instagram post that she would be returning to music in 2021, which was further teased by an Instagram post from Sony Music Germany on December 31. Comedian Alan Carr, a close friend of Adele’s, also hinted that the album would be released in 2021, describing the material he has heard from the album as “amazing” during an interview with Grazia UK.

On September 28, 2021, tweets from numerous radio stations across the globe indicated that new Adele music could be released as early as that week. Later that week, Taylor Swift moved the release of her forthcoming re-recording of her 2012 album Red — previously slated for a November 19 release date — to November 12, sparking speculation that Adele would be releasing a new album on November 19. Days later, Hits Daily Double, who previously reported exclusively on the album rollout for 25, reiterated that Adele’s fourth studio album would be released on November 19.

On the weekend of October 1, a series of billboards and projections displaying the number “30” appeared in various locations across the globe, with reports that it could be tied to Adele’s forthcoming studio album, 30. On Monday, October 4, Adele’s social media accounts and website were updated to match the blue color from the advertisements, indicating an imminent announcement from Adele. The next day, Adele officially announced an October 15 release for the album’s lead single, “Easy On Me,” with a clip of its music video on her social media accounts. Later that week, Adele became the first person to simultaneously appear on the covers of both American and British Vogue publications in the same month; both magazines featured interviews in which Adele revealed details about her new album.

Unlike 25, Adele confirmed that 30 will be available on streaming services the day of its release, in addition to a traditional release on physical formats. Likewise, 30 differs from Adele’s previous releases in that it will not be released by XL Recordings; instead, its worldwide distribution will be handled by Columbia Records, which previously only handled Adele’s releases in North America.

On October 13, 2021, Adele officially announced the title of the album would be 30 and that it was slated for release on November 19, 2021. The following week, she announced a television special, Adele One Night Only, would air on CBS on November 14, 2021. The special will feature an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey, as well as live performances of both Adele’s biggest hits and her newest songs from the album.

Possible songs and collaborations

During the conception of 25, Adele wrote enough material for what she claimed could be three or four albums. She later revealed that she had four or five songs that she might revisit at a later date, among them a Greg Kurstin-contributed song that she felt was more appropriate once she was older.

“

I feel like I’m a bit young tossing it right now, but it’s a really great, great song. It’s like Celine [Dion] meets Meat Loaf meets, like, Barbra [Streisand] meets, like, Beyoncé or something. It’s, like, all of my wet-dream idols [laughs]. But it’s really, really great, actually. We didn’t finish it in time, and also it just felt like maybe I should be, like, 32 when I do it rather than 27? And there’s definitely four or five other songs that I would definitely revisit. And it depends what place I’m at in my life, then. It might be completely irrelevant to me, then. I don’t want to put a song on the record just because it’s good if I can’t relate to it.

”

Multiple collaborations with songwriter Diane Warren were also cut from 25. Recorded at RAK Studios in northwest London, most of their collaborations were written and completed by early 2014. Despite this, Warren mentioned the possibility of some of the songs appearing on future albums, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I did some songs with Adele that she still loves. Hopefully they’ll find their way onto her next album. We did some songs early in the process for 25. But I ran into her and she was like, ‘I still love those songs. I still want them. Don’t give them away.’ And they’re really good songs. Two, I think, are great.”

According to a report from The Sun, Adele met with returning collaborators Mark Ronson, Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth and Jim Abbiss to work on her fourth studio album. Tedder later seemingly confirmed rumors that he had been in the studio with Adele, teasing, “I’ll just say that she sounds better than ever.” Later reports indicated that Adele was also working with John Legend and Raphael Saadiq in hopes of crafting an album “full of soul, with a more eclectic sound.”

In December 2020, drummer Matt Chamberlin — who previously worked with Adele during recording sessions for 25 — confirmed that he had recently been in the studio with her for her fourth studio album, calling her new material “powerful and emotive.” He also revealed that she was working with songwriter Rick Nowels, with whom she previously wrote “Why Do You Love Me” for the deluxe edition of 25.

Commercial performance

On October 29, 2021, three weeks before the release, the album broke the Apple Music record for the most pre-added album ever on the streaming platform, surpassing Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever (2021); 30 also broke the record for the largest number of pre-adds in a single day, as well as the record for achieving it in the shortest timeframe.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	“Strangers By Nature”	Adele Adkins • Ludwig Göransson	Göransson	3:02
2.	“Easy On Me”	Adkins • Greg Kurstin	Kurstin	3:44
3.	“My Little Love”	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	6:29
4.	“Cry Your Heart Out”	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	4:15
5.	“Oh My God”	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	3:45
6.	“Can I Get It”	Adkins • Max Martin • Shellback	Martin • Shellback	3:30
7.	“I Drink Wine”	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	6:16
8.	“All Night Parking” (Interlude) (with Erroll Garner)	Adkins • Erroll Gardner	Joey Pecoraro • Kurstin	2:41
9.	“Woman Like Me”	Adkins • Inflo	Inflo	5:00
10.	“Hold On”	Adkins • Inflo	Inflo	6:06
11.	“To Be Loved”	Adkins • Tobias Jesso Jr.	Jesso Jr. • Shawn Everett	6:43
12.	“Love Is a Game”	Adkins • Inflo	Inflo	6:43

Target deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	“Wild Wild West”	Adkins • Göransson	Göransson	3:46
14.	“Can’t Be Together”	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	4:17
15.	“Easy On Me” (with Chris Stapleton)	Adkins • Kurstin	Kurstin	3:44

Booklet

The album artwork was photographed by Simon Emmett and the booklet was photographed by Raven B. Varona.