Fans Pick Their Favourites From Adele’s “25”

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1762 days is an excruciatingly long time, especially when you’re waiting on a pop star who has a penchant for avoiding the radar altogether. Following her industry-reviving LP “21“, Adele is back with her latest integer, the 11-track “25“.

To describe this album as “eagerly-anticipated” would be a greater understatement than saying “Beyoncé is an okay singer”. With the release of her third full-length album, Adele has effectively broken the Internet.

Fronted by the Billboard #1 hit “Hello“, Adele explores the idea of a “make-up record”, recapturing time that flew by without her realising. With the likes of Tobias Jesso Jr., Bruno Mars, Greg Kurstin (Kelly Clarkson, Lily Allen), and pop kid Max Martin (Taylor Swift) collaborating on production, “25” takes the brave experimental character of “19” and pushes it into overdrive. Gone are the days of the piano-led “why don’t you love me” ballads – Adele now sings about reconciliation, intimacy, and maternal love – but whether this is the best thing for her recording career is still up in the air.

Here’s what the Daydreamers have to say about each track from the album:

1. “Hello”

We all know how the 30-second snippet brought the world to a standstill. In a move that’s classic Adele, white text on a black screen was all it took for her to announce her return. The opening track is basically the “it me” meme brought to life in a record-breaking hit form. Not everyone loves it, but that’s already saying a lot.

https://twitter.com/anthagiox/status/667077377776885760

2. “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”

This is about as stunning as Taylor Swift going pop-poppity-pop on “Shake It Off“, or Rihanna stripping back her production on “FourFiveSeconds“. “Send My Love” is, in Adele’s words, her “fuck you” song. Directed to her ex, the Max Martin-assisted sassfest is a calypso-leaning pop hit that’s so unabashedly radio-friendly it could have been recorded by Little Mix in another life.

3. “I Miss You”

Speaking to i-D, Adele explained that track number three is “about intimacy on every level. It’s about sex, it’s about arguing, one of the most intimate moments in my life.” What the fans heard: “It’s about sex.”

https://twitter.com/riverlae/status/667513671086641153

4. “When We Were Young”

Touted as the next official single, the made-for-karaoke track is co-written by Tobias Jesso Jr., whom Adele lifted from relative obscurity earlier in the year (yeah, she does that). She also slays it live so you know it’s good.

https://twitter.com/flytheocean/status/667694573167120385

And it’s not really meant for bopping along to…

5. “Remedy”

One of the first songs to be completed for the album, “Remedy” is co-written with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, who also wrote “Rumour Has It“. OoooOOoh.

https://twitter.com/itsmebeccax/status/667093379952570368

6. “Water Under The Bridge”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Adele revealed that the track is about “a relationship suddenly getting really, really serious, and then getting a bit frightened by it, and then realizing that ‘I think this must be right. This is the relationship that I want to be in for as long as I can possibly be in it.’” Yes, it’s about her partner Simon Konecki.

7. “River Lea”

Two songs about water back to back? Sounds like someone’s influenced by Florence + The Machine. It’s a little odd naming a song after a river that actually exists, but the actual River Lea is interestingly only an hour’s drive from Adele’s hometown of West Norwood. Some fans have tried explaining what the place means to her by referencing a mention of a river in “I Found A Boy“, a bonus track from “21”. Whatever it is, the location clearly holds a special meaning in Adele’s heart.

https://twitter.com/xtodea/status/667384210517282816

8. “Love In The Dark”

Written together with her bass player Samuel Dixon, track number eight is an absolute tearjerker. Filler track? Maybe. Remember how “He Won’t Go” felt a little awkward on “21”?

https://twitter.com/hobbsie11/status/667681927097409536

9. “Million Years Ago”

Summing up her anti-pop star persona is “Million Years Ago”. With as-it-is lyrics like “I feel like my life is flashing by / and all I can do is watch and cry / I miss the air, I miss my friends / I miss my mother, I miss it when / life was party to be thrown / but that was a million years ago“, Adele lays bare the drawbacks of the celebrity lifestyle and the toll it takes on stars.

https://twitter.com/avivalimos/status/667655443406172160

10. “All I Ask”

This will forever be known as “the Bruno Mars song”, though he doesn’t sing in it. No “doo-wops” here though, the lyrics in this theatrical song are going right for the feels. Fingers crossed they perform this together at some point. On a world tour, perhaps?

11. “Sweetest Devotion”

The song is all about my kid.” The album closer features actual baby talk from Adele’s son Angelo, kinda like how “Blue” featuring Blue Ivy closed out 2013’s “BEYONCÉ” (wait…). Plus, Kelly Clarkson is all here for these last few songs so you know you’re on the right track.

Have you heard “25” yet? Let us know your favourite in the comments below!

As of time of print, “25” is #1 on iTunes in more than 100 countries.


Buy “25” on iTunes here. You know you want to.

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