If Adele's recent announcement that 25 would be a "make-up record" and not a "break-up record" made fans feel worried, fear not: In true Adele fashion, "Hello," the album's first single and music video, is all about heartbreak. "Hello from the other side / I must've called a thousand times to tell you / I'm sorry, for everything that I've done / But when I call you never seem to be home," Adele sings. "Hello from the outside / At least I can say that I've tried to tell you / I'm sorry, for breaking your heart / But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore."
Adele will release 25, her first studio album since 2011, on Nov. 20.
The Grammy-winning singer spoke about her latest endeavor for the first time in an interview with Apple Music's Beats 1's Zane Lowe Friday. "I think this will be my last age one," she said of 25, which follows 2011's 21 and 2008's 19 albums. "I'm sure I'm wrong with this, but I feel like there's been a massive change in me in the last couple of years. Having become a parent, and me and all my friends suddenly living grown-up lives and having responsibilities we haven't had before."
"I feel like how I feel about myself is how I'm going to feel about myself forever. I feel like the idea of naming albums after my age is always to show a photograph of what's going on in my life [at that time]. I feel like not that much is going to change profoundly in me from now on, in terms of how important years of my life are to myself. I think the next one is probably going to be called Adele. The real me," the 27-year-old musician joked before adding, "I'm just kidding."
Adele's comments to Lowe echo what she told fans in an open letter Wednesday. "Turning 25 was a turning point for me, slap bang in the middle of my 20s. Teetering on the edge of being an old adolescent and a fully-fledged adult, I made the decision to go into becoming who I'm going to be forever without a removal van full of my old junk. I miss everything about my past, the good and the bad, but only because it won't come back. When I was in it, I wanted out! So typical. I'm on about being a teenager, sitting around and chatting s--t and not caring about the future because it didn't matter like it does now. The ability to be flippant about everything and there be no consequences. Even following and breaking rules...is better than making the rules. 25 is about getting to know who I've become without realizing. And I'm so sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened."
Xavier Dolan directed the singer's "Hello" music video in Montreal.
"It was incredible working with him," Adele told Lowe of working with the director. "I learned a lot and it made me want to be an actress. He had me crying and acting...and I'm really, really proud of it. It's not like a groundbreaking video in terms of effects and dance moves, but it's my best video and I'm so proud of it."