A new Adele era is upon us!
After years of speculation and a cryptic billboard campaign, the 33-year-old singer officially announced her upcoming fourth studio album, 30, on Wednesday. Led by previously-announced single "Easy On Me," which is due out this Friday, the album will be Adele's first since 2015's 25.
Adele announced 30's release date, Nov. 19, in a lengthy, reflective social media post, sharing a look inside her creative process and tumultuous last few years.
"I was certainly nowhere near where I’d hoped to be when I first started it nearly three years ago. Quite the opposite actually," she wrote. "I rely on routine and consistency to feel safe, I always have. And yet there I was knowingly -- willingly even, throwing myself into a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil!"
"I’ve learned a lot of blistering truths about myself along the way,” she continued. "I’ve shed many layers but also wrapped myself in new ones. Discovered genuinely useful and wholesome mentalities to lead with, and I feel like I’ve finally found my feeling again. I’d go so far as to say that I’ve never felt more peaceful in my life... I've painstakingly rebuilt my house and my heart since then, and this album narrates it."
"And so," she shared, "I’m ready to finally put this album out."
In a recent Vogue interview, her first major sit-down in five years, Adele shared that she sees the 30 album as "self-destruction, then self-reflection and then sort of self-redemption."
"But I feel ready," she added. "I really want people to hear my side of the story this time."
The first single -- which she shared a snippet of on Instagram Live last weekend -- was penned in the wake of her divorce from Simon Konecki, and Adele said it, like much of the album, was written as a way to sort through her emotions for the sake of their 8-year-old son, Angelo.
"It’s not like anyone’s having a go at me, but it’s like, I left the marriage. Be kind to me as well," she reflected. "It was the first song I wrote for the album and then I didn’t write anything else for six months after because I was like, ‘OK, well, I’ve said it all."
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