After a slow-burning PR campaign, Adele’s first new music in six years has arrived.
Easy On Me, a spare and emotional piano ballad, was released at midnight UK time, offering fans the first glimpse of her “divorce album”, entitled 30.
That will be her follow-up to massively successful albums 19, 21 and 25.
Easy On Me sees Adele explaining her decision to walk away from her marriage in 2019 while asking her son and ex-husband for understanding.
“I changed who I was to put you both first,” she sings, “but now I give up”.
That moment, so naked and unvarnished, sends shivers down your spine.
Adele’s voice is full of regret, but also resolve.
In the accompanying music video, director Xavier Dolan chooses this moment to transition from black and white to full colour – making clear that this is the sound of a woman who has dismantled her entire world, realising that she needn’t feel guilty for putting herself first.