level 15
Rather than rush into a new album, Adele took time to seed collaborations with a host of remarkable producers and songwriters around the world, and she gradually shaped her emotions and feelings into the songs that comprise 25. She also grappled with the challenge of balancing her career with being a first-time mother after giving birth to her son, Angelo James Konecki, in October 2012.
Upon its release, 25 was praised by Rolling Stone as Adele's "most self-assured LP yet." Buoyed by the hit "Hello," which has emerged as a contemporary standard, it became a blockbuster album like its predecessor, selling more than 10 million copies in the United States.
Following, several key participants on 25 provide behind-the-scenes perspectives — connecting sessions from Prague to London to Los Angeles — on how the latest chapter in Adele's career was written.
Greg Kurstin
*Adele: ["Hello"] is about hurting someone's feelings, but it's also about trying to stay in touch with myself, which sometimes can be a little bit hard to do. It's about a yearning for the other side of me … about wanting to be at home and wanting to reach out to everyone I've ever hurt, including myself, and apologize for it.
