Adele has returned! After 5 years of no word from our favorite British crooner, Adele has come back with her new album ’30’. I wrote about her lead single “Easy on Me”, here.

The album starts off with Strangers by Nature, a soft tune about the disillusion of her marriage. It is an alright tune, but it had to grow on me a bit after a few listens.

The second song, which is the lead single for this album, Easy on Me is a plea to her son and her ex-husband for understanding as they navigate their decision to divorce.

My Little Love is everyone’s favorite track. We get Adele at her most vulnerable as we hear voice memos of her son and small snippets of what I assume is a conversation with a therapist or close friend about how she is struggling emotionally with the divorce and the aftermath, especially with having to explain things to her son in a way he would understand. This song is a LITERAL letter to her son. It is so sweet that she included it here in the album. Definitely a tear-jerker.

Cry Your Heart Out is an upbeat tune which was placed in a good spot here after we all shed tears to My Little Love.

The next two tracks, Oh My God and Can I Get It seems to be nods to her new relationship with sports agent Rich Paul. Can I Get it might also be a nod to sex 😎?

I Drink Wine is another song where she laments about the fall of her marriage, but also opines about how she wants to still have a good relationship with her ex. I believe she said in the interview she did with Oprah that she and her ex are on good terms and co-parent their son. All Night Parking is an interlude.

Woman Like Me is a fiery track about how she thinks her ex messed up a good thing due to complacency. Now, she doesn’t wholly blame him for the dissolve of their marriage, I think this was just a fun little dig.

Hold On is a stirring song about trying to keep it together amidst turmoil. for Adele, that was the divorce, but this song can apply to the hell that has been the last two years for many of us. This song was also featured in a recent Amazon holiday commercial. Sometimes all we can do is hold on 🧡.

To Be Loved is the ballad we have all been waiting for. Similar to the previous track Hold On, To Be Loved is a salve to our hearts.

Love Is A Game is the closing track on this phenom of an album. It serves as a great closer,

Rankings

1. Hold On
2. My Little Love
3. To Be Loved
4. Woman Like Me
5. Easy On Me
6. Can I Get It
7. I Drink Wine
8. Love Is A Game
9. Cry Your Heart Out
10. Strangers By Nature
11. Oh My God
12. All Night Parking

Overall, I give this album 5 out of 5 stars. It’s classic Adele, and some new sounds mixed in. I have to go down to my local Target to get the bonus track version sometime soon.