Adele is saying a lot more
than just “Hello” about her new music.
The British singer released
her first single in three years to rave reviews on Friday, and revealed in a
series of radio interviews why the haunting ballad and its accompanying album,
“25,” took so long to come together.
“It was
pretty obvious pretty quickly that I wasn’t ready in my head space to
concentrate on accessing my creativity, so I didn’t want to waste anyone else’s
time,” she said in an interview with BBC 1’s Nick Grimshaw. “So I
decided not to do it until I felt ready.”
PHOTOS: ‘Rolling In The Deep’ With The Lovely Adele
When the
right track finally came along, however, Adele said she knew the wait had been
worth it.
“I felt
a little bit silly, singing, ‘Hello, it’s me,'” she told SiriusXM’s Jenny Eliscu of the song’s opening lyrics. “But I loved the verse straight away
and I knew that it was going to be the first thing that I would come back with,
I think, even before the whole song was written.”
WATCH: Adele’s History-Making ‘Hello’ Video Released
In addition
to the pressure of following up her massive 2011 sophomore
effort,”21,” the 10-time Grammy winner was also navigating a major
shift in her personal life.
Adele
welcomed son Angelo in 2012, and explained that new motherhood also played a
role in delaying her artistic process.
“I
didn’t do anything [musically] until my kid was like 18 months old or nearly
two years old,” she said. “I took a long, long time off.”
Turns out,
Angelo is a tough audience anyway. Adele joked to BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans that
although she does sing to her little one, he isn’t exactly a fan of his mom’s
greatest hits.
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“He
doesn’t really like my music,” she laughed, saying the toddler prefers
classics like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Row, Row, Row
Your Boat.”
Although Adele
was embracing an important new chapter at home, she went on to say that the
creative struggle she experienced at the time made her wonder if she had surpassed her
professional peak.
“A couple of times I thought I’d dried up,” she
said.
“25”
will cap a trilogy of age-themed albums Adele started with her 2008 debut,
“19.” Now, the 27-year-old
confirmed, she’s ready for what’s next.
“I
think this will be my last age one,” she told Beats 1. “I feel like there’s been a massive change in me in the
last couple of years – having become a parent and me and all of my friends
suddenly living grown-up lives.”
She added, “Of course
I’m always gonna change my opinions on things and feelings, but calling the
albums after my age has always shown a photograph of what was going on in my
life then and there. I feel like not that much is going to change profoundly in
me from now on, in terms of how important years of my life are.”
Adele may be
branching out, but the powerhouse vocalist said she’s still planning on keeping
things simple going forward.
“I think the next
[album] is probably going to be called ‘Adele,’ the real me,” she laughed.
READ: Adele Reveals Details On ’25’: ‘It’s A Make-Up Record’
Adele’s “25” drops on Nov. 20.
— Erin Biglow
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