It’s been a decade since Adele dropped her third studio album, “25,” but its songs feel like they’ve always been in the air. Released on November 20th, 2015, the collection of songs is a reflection of the pop singer’s life at 25, although a bout of writer’s block pushed its release out further than she expected.
“There is some darkness on it just because I like to do dramatic, I’m a bit of a drama queen,” she wrote in an open letter at the time. “It’s not as themed as my last record. The reason I labeled it a ‘make-up record,’ it sounds super cliché, but my last record was labeled a ‘break-up record,’ and rightly so, because it was a break-up record. This record is all about how I feel as opposed to how someone else has made me feel, it’s about how I made myself feel.”
Fans had to wait nearly five years between albums, so Adele opened “25” with the perfect greeting.
“Hello” is as perfect a modern pop ballad as can be. It fuses autobiographical songwriting, emotive performance, and masterful production to create a piece of sonic art that connects with listeners worldwide.
We’re celebrating its 10th anniversary by revisiting the mega hit’s creation and musical brilliance.
Adele co-wrote “Hello” with Greg Kurstin, and although they worked well together, it was an arduous process for the singer. The song’s initial lyric was “Hello misery,” pinpointing just how somber Adele’s mood was at the time. Kurstin convinced her to change it to the iconic and self-affirming opening, “Hello, it’s me.”
He also set the tone with his chord choices.
“We were happy at the time, but I tend to go for moody chords, and Adele’s voice invokes so much emotion. That emotion, attached to the soaring Hello from the outside refrain, was so chilling that both songwriters recognized its power instantly,” he said. “I started playing piano chords, and Adele sang different ideas until we landed on what became the verse. I improvised while she thought of ideas on the spot. I was trying to find a balance, and with the verse production being what it was, the chorus ended up quite uplifting.”
Kurstin originally played the song in F# minor as Adele sang the chorus. However, he took it down a half-step to F minor. “I like the darker sound that it became after doing that,” he explained.
“Hello” became a massive global success. It hit the top of the charts in 30 countries and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for 10 consecutive weeks. It won the BBC Song of the Year award, and the music video was recognized by Guinness World Records as the fastest to reach one billion views on YouTube.
“It was hard work to write these songs,” Adele said of “25.” “I felt a lot of pressure writing the songs for 25, and for a long time, I didn’t really find my voice. I don’t know if I even did find it, but the reception to ‘Hello’ showed me people loved it.”
Revisit “Hello” with this performance from the NRJ Awards and celebrate by playing your own version with the sheet music:
