Adele’s long-awaited third album, 25, has met with high praise from critics ahead of its release.
The singer, 27, has said she was so worried about living up to the success of 2011’s 21 that she nearly quit music for good.
But reviews in many newspapers before her new album, 25, goes on sale on Friday 20 November, will be music to her ears, with several critics heralding it as the record to “save the music industry”.
Neil McCormick, writing in the Daily Telegraph, gave her effort five stars, adding: “25 is crammed top to bottom with perfectly formed songs – elegantly flowing melodies, direct and truthful lyrics and richly textured production – all sung as if her life depends on it.”
Will Hodgkinson, for the Times, awarded her four stars but said there was “nothing” to equal hit song Someone Like You.
He said: “Adele has made an album that offers few surprises – she was never going to detour into heavy metal – but lots of big, emotional ballads. It speaks to the heart in a universal fashion and puts British pop back at the heart of modern life, where it belongs.”
The Sun’s Dan Wootton was less enthusiastic, saying Adele did not “scale the epic heights” of 21. But he said: “With the exception of a couple of duds, 25 is a collection of beautiful tracks that move her in a surprising but welcome direction.”
And the New York Times’ pop critic Jon Caramanica said: “25 manages to sound all of a piece, even as the songs veer from phenomenal to tepid. In places, everything comes together.”
The star is to appear on the upcoming programme Adele at the BBC, where she gives a candid interview to Graham Norton. In it, she says: “I just got really worried that I was never going to make anything that anyone liked again. It was just being self-critical of myself, it was nothing else other than that.
“And also I started to wonder, maybe 21 being so successful is enough for everyone? But I realised it wasn’t enough for me. So, sorry, I’ll make your ears bleed again.”
Elsewhere in the interview, which is due to be broadcast on BBC One at 8.30pm on Friday 20 November, the Tottenham-born singer said: “I’m not a recluse; I’ve been to every museum, park, and shopping centre. On a rainy day what do you think I do with my kid?” The singer had made a similar statement in an interview with Observer Music Monthly magazine.
Her Grammy- and Brit Award-winning album 21 has sold more than 30m copies worldwide since it came out in 2011. So far, single Hello has broken video-streaming and sales records in the UK and US.
