25

by Adele

Overview

Autobiography is baked into Adele's art. She called her first album 19, naming it after her age at the time of writing, and like a musical, millennial Michael Apted, each successive album represented another chapter in her life's story. Fueled by heartbreak, her roiling 2011 record 21 ushered in her adulthood and superstardom, two acts that were instrumental in the creation of 25, the 2015 album purportedly documenting her mid-twenties. Between 21 and 25, Adele fell in love and started a family, an event that would surely be grist for a memoirist's mill if Adele was as confessional a singer/songwriter as she appears, but she is not. Like 21 before it, the love that flows through 25 is either curdled or lost, love that can no longer replenish or nourish. It is certainly not the kind of love that would arise from a satisfying, stable relationship, but it is indeed the kind of love that is recognizable from 21: love that hurts, not heals. While her themes may remain the same, Adele isn't the same singer as she was in 2011, nor is 25 a carbon copy of 21. Success has given her the confidence to abandon any lingering Amy Winehouse influence, taking along with it any sense of swing or sass. Max Martin and Shellback give "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" a subdued, spliced electronic pulse, just enough of a rhythm to distinguish the track from the rest of the record. But it and the cinematically surging "Water Under the Bridge" -- a song begging to be played over the closing credits of an inspirational biopic -- wither when compared to the wallop of "Rolling in the Deep." This stateliness is intentional, forcing attention with both the full force gale that is Adele's voice and, not so coincidentally, her placid good taste. It isn't so much that Adele doesn't take risks -- she's hip enough to enlist Haim/Charli XCX's producer to helm "When We Were Young," a song co-written with hotly tipped sensitive soul Tobias Jesso, Jr., and she brings in Danger Mouse to help orchestrate the neo-gospel of "River Lea." But she's so devoted to ballads, ballads determined to convey grace and strength in the face of loss that she winds up residing in a middle of the road, which makes her seem much older than the quarter century of the title. Adele doesn't help matters by dwelling on the passage of time, repeatedly returning to the idea that she ain't a kid anymore. It's a sentiment that suits a singer many years past 25 yet also suggests a bit of savvy on her part: these are songs that are meant to be heard -- and sung -- for years after the album's initial release, gathering resonance with the passage of time. Fittingly, 25 also plays better over the long haul, its march of slow songs steadily revealing subtle emotional or musical distinctions. Make no mistake, all 11 songs are of a piece -- they're shaded by melancholy, gaining most of their power through performance -- but that cohesive sound only accentuates how Adele has definitively claimed this arena of dignified heartbreak as her own. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	12/01/2020
Label:	Xl
UPC:	0191404113912
Rank:	4230

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Adele   Primary Artist,Drums,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Greg Phillinganes   Piano
Nico Muhly   Piano,Harmonium,Prepared Piano
Joey Waronker   Drums
Ryan Tedder   Piano,Keyboards,Moog Bass,Moog Synthesizer
Max Martin   Vocals (Background)
Dave Okumu   Guitar
Adam Klemens   Conductor
Ariel Rechtshaid   Organ,Percussion,Synthesizer,Glockenspiel,Vocals (Background)
Danger Mouse   Organ,Piano,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric)
Paul Epworth   Bass,Drums,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Percussion
Greg Kurstin   Bass,Drums,Piano,Guitar,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)
Gus Seyffert   Bass
Shellback   Percussion
Declan Gaffney   Bass,Percussion
Nikolaj Torplarsen   Piano
Samuel Dixon   Piano,Synthesizer
Tom Herbert   Bass
Roger Manning   Optigan
Benji Lysaght   Guitar
Leo Taylor   Drums
Brody Brown   Piano
Pablo Tato   Guitar
Filmharmonic Orchestra   Strings
Tobias Jesso, Jr.   Piano,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Oliver Kraus   Arranger,String Arrangements
John Hanes   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Michael Ilbert   Engineer
Ryan Tedder   Composer,Producer
Max Martin   Composer,Producer
Mike Piersante   Engineer
Adele   Design,Art Direction
Cameron Craig   Engineer
Brian Burton   Composer
Ariel Rechtshaid   Engineer,Producer,Programming
Danger Mouse   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Paul Epworth   Composer,Producer,Programming
Greg Kurstin   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Adele Adkins   Design,Composer,Art Direction
Jan Holzner   Engineer
Tom Elmhirst   Mixing
Matt Wiggins   Engineer
Shellback   Composer,Producer,Programming
Bruno Mars   Composer
Chris Kasych   Engineer
Tom Coyne   Mastering
Declan Gaffney   Engineer
Philip Lawrence   Composer
Samuel Dixon   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Charles Moniz   Engineer
Joseph Hartwell Jones   Engineer
John Prestage   Assistant Engineer
Alex Pasco   Engineer
Phil Lee   Design,Art Direction
Randy Merrill   Mastering
Alasdair McLellan   Cover Photo,Photography
Petr Pycha   Contractor,Orchestra Contractor
Emile Haynie   Instrumentation
Martin Hollis   Assistant Engineer
Liam Nolan   Engineer
Chris Kaysch   Engineer
The Smeezingtons   Producer
Nick Rowe   Engineer
Dave Schiffman   Engineer
Brody Brown   Composer
Austen Jux Chandler   Engineer
Jacob Dennis   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Ariel Reichtshaid   Engineer,Producer
Michael Harris   Assistant Engineer
Rich Rich   Engineer
Joe Visciano   Mixing,Assistant,Mixing Assistant
Aaron Ahmad   Assistant Engineer
Julian Burg   Engineer
Tobias Jesso, Jr.   Composer
John DeBold   Assistant Engineer
Alexandra Waespi   Photography
Riley McLntyre   Engineer
Christopher Cerullo   Assistant Engineer
Riley McIntyre   Engineer