Adele’s New Album ’25’ Is OUT – We Review Every Song

by Hanna Lustig

ADELE’S NEW ALBUM, 25, IS FINALLY OUT and this morning, I woke up nice ‘n’ early to pay the queen my respects and a crisp $10.99. Spoiler alert: it was BEYOND worth it.

 In fact, I suggest you pause your life, open your preferred Internet browser and buy that shit right now.  Because whatever you’re doing – working, walking to class, eating your first solid meal after seventeen days of juicing, pre-rolling your Thanksgiving pie crust, pairing your newly laundered your socks, reaching out to your estranged cousin in a last attempt to salvage your relationship – it’s not as important as listening to Adele. It simply isn’t. Nothing is.

 The story behind 25 is, by now, fairly well-documented, but for those who haven’t been obsessively following every piece of media coverage she’s done over the last month, I’ll clue you in:

 A little over a year ago, Adele basically finished an album. She had enough songs to call it quits and release her hotly anticipated third record. But there was a snag: it wasn’t perfect. In a recent cover story, Adele told Rolling Stone her producers weren’t buying it. They said she was rushing, and ultimately, in her heart, she knew they were right. I mean, who can blame her? Between 21 and 25, Adele was busy doing what I consider the hardest thing imaginable: giving birth and raising her first child, Angelo. In other words, “life happened.”

But even so, Adele took notes and went back to the drawing board, spending as much as she needed to get 25 right – especially after the untouchable success of her previous record, 21 from 2011. Now, it bears mentioning that Adele could’ve released any album, any ten or so tracks, and the world would’ve said thank you and eaten it up. She didn’t have to craft a magnificent piece of artistry…but she did. And mark my words, 25 will be the only thing carrying me through the winter. You can shake to it, you can shimmy to it, you can reminisce to it, and most importantly, you can totally, totally weep to it (even Adele cries to her own songs!).

 This would be the point at which I link to a place where you can stream 25, but if you want some of this goodness, you’re going to have to *actually* buy it because Adele is soooo over streaming services.

 Instead, I’ll leave you with a list of the new tracks (and why I love each of them), a link to iTunes, and this promise: 25 will emotionally cleanse you. And really, you can’t put a price on emotional wellbeing.

 1. “Hello”: This plaintive, searching opening track took over six months to finishing writing because Adele wanted to nail the chorus.

 2. “Send My Love”: Staff pick! This “fuck you, I’m doing fine” anthem features a sick guitar bit Adele wrote years ago and saved.  

3. “I Miss You”: This is what it sounds like to drink whiskey, smoke a cigarette, and be honest with yourself about wanting your ex back.

4. “When We Were Young”: This is Adele’s favorite song on the record. According to Adele, it was slightly inspired by Barbara Streisand singing “The Way We Were” at the Oscars.

5. “Remedy”: Adele wrote this song for her son Angelo and listening to it feels like having your heart squeezed by a boa constrictor.

6. “Water Under the Bridge”: This one’s for her boyfriend/partner Simon Konecki

7. “River Lea”: A gorgeous, moving modern hymn

8. “Love in the Dark”: This track sexually aroused fellow blog editor Taia Handlin.

9. “Million Years Ago”: The perfect slow jam for mourning the passage of time!

10. “All I Ask”: In which Adele shows us precisely how talented she is with soaring high notes and room-filling, powerhouse vocals. Bruno Mars actually helped her write and produce this track.

11. “Sweetest Devotion”: Adele saved the best for the last. This song made me want to run up a mountain and shout to the heavens. Ebullient and liberated, this song is guaranteed to give you Adele-chills. 

 

 

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Founded in 1993, BUST is the inclusive feminist lifestyle trailblazer offering a unique mix of humor, female-focused entertainment, uncensored personal stories, and candid reporting that tells the truth about women’s lives.

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