Adele Promises New Music by Year's End: Could It Be the James Bond Theme?

British superstar vows to release a single by the end of 2012 but says a full album is still two years away, fueling speculation that her forthcoming song will be the new 007 tune

By Gina Serpe Apr 02, 2012 5:35 PMTags
AdeleLarry Busacca/Getty Images

It's music to her fans' ears. Literally.

While speaking to a French radio station this week, Adele delivered some news that was one part good, one part bad and all parts intriguing.

Good news first: Coming off her career high in 2011, Adele promised that fans wouldn't have to wait too long for some new tunes, and vowed that she would have a new single out by the end of 2012.

The bad news?

Well, it's actually not so much bad news as it is gratification-delaying news: While a new song will be released by year's end, fans will have to wait roughly two more years before her follow-up album to the record-breaking 21 is out.

"There will be a new song, probably coming out at the end of the year," she told France's NRJ. "But then it depends how quickly I write some of the other songs.

"If I didn't write my own songs, I'd be out next week with a new album. I have to take time and live a little bit. There were a good two years between my first and second albums, so it'll be the same this time."

So, speculation has already mounted (well, continued to mount) as to what sort of single is released a full two years before the album it's supposed to headline. The near-unanimous answer seems to be: a single that's not from said album at all. Perhaps it's a title track? From, say, the most high-profile British release of the year?

Even if Adele herself is keeping mum, the people certainly seem to have spoken, and the public has all but wishfully decided that all signs point to Adele crooning the theme song for the new James Bond flick, Skyfall. Which, handily enough, his theaters later this year, on Nov. 9.

So the timing fits.

It's not the first time the rumor's made the rounds, and it's probably not the last. But since Adele isn't in any rush to confirm or deny the reports, we'll have to wait and see listen.

As for that forthcoming album—which she does seem more than happy to talk about—Adele says that despite the inevitable hype that will come with its release, as far as she's concerned, the pressure's off.

"I don't think I'll feel the pressure for the next album to be as big as the last one because I know that's not really possible. What's happened with this album is very rare anyway."