Hello, it’s me. I’ve thought about us for a long, long time—and it’s finally real. Adele’s fourth album will drop in September, according to Adele.
While officiating the wedding of her friend Laura Dockrill and former Maccabees’ musician Hugo White, Adele let it slip that her loved ones should “expect my album in September,” Variety reports. That’s exciting news! It’s been five years since she released her third album 25—a record so big, it demolished the one-week U.S. sales record set by ’NSYNC for No Strings Attached in 2000. In the time between 25 and now, Adele has gotten married and divorced, which means, if we’re lucky, an album about living through separation.
Post-divorce, Adele was having a rough go, naturally. She wrote about it on Instagram on her 31st birthday in May:
“30 tried me so hard but I’m owning it and trying my hardest to lean in to it all. No matter how long we’re here for life is constant and complicated at times. I’ve changed drastically in the last couple years and I’m still changing and that’s okay. 31 is going to be a big ol’ year and I’m going to spend it all on myself. For the first time in a decade I’m ready to feel the world around me and look up for once. Be kind to yourself people we’re only human, go slow, put your phone down and laugh out loud at every opportunity. Learning to REALLY truly love yourself is it, and I’ve only just realized that that is more than enough. I’ll learn to love you lot eventually.”
Adele added that “30 will be a drum n bass record to spite you. Chin up eh,” which is a very Adele thing to say. I think it also suggests that the new album will be titled 30, after her 30th year, and will probably deal with themes of self-acceptance and strife and all that horrible and delicious relatable life-stuff she’s so good at distilling and translating onto a universally lauded record. I, for one, welcome the heartbreak.