Adele Initially Thought ‘Hello’ Had Flopped

Despite all of the critical acclaim she has received thus far, Adele still gets incredibly nervous when she's on the verge of releasing new material for the first time.

That's precisely what happened after a clip of her new single "Hello" (from her upcoming album 25, out on November 20) was teased after last Sunday's X Factor, so says the 27-year-old singer in her interview with Nick Grimshaw on today's edition of The Radio 1 Breakfast Show (via Daily Mail).

Initially relieved that the song didn't have "to be a secret anymore," Adele's feelings quickly changed once she went on Twitter. A quick search of the app populated a mere three tweets related to the new single, which she admits made her jump to some hasty conclusions: "that's it, I've missed my window."

Thankfully her boyfriend was there to uncover the rapidly-growing Twitter conversation, and to remind her that it's essentially impossible for an artist of her status to receive such an alarmingly low number of responses.

Yet Adele's justification of her nervousness is admirably humble and logical. She recognizes that "[e]very album is always going to follow 21, so I can't include it in any of my expectations of anything I do again."

It's refreshing to hear an artist openly and honestly discuss the pressure of fans' expectations when it comes to recording and releasing new music—a process that Adele takes very seriously. She admits that she did initially "write an album about being a mum," NME reports, but ultimately decided to scrap it because "that's pretty boring."

But now that "Hello" has officially been released in full (our own Bradley Stern reviewed the track early this morning immediately following its release), the singer says she can breathe another sigh of relief. "I thought it was never going to happen," she states, but she takes solace in the fact that "[i]t's been a long time coming."

Adele explains that "Hello" isn't just about romantic relationships; it's about friendship as well. The track is also a good indication of what's to come on the album: It's about reconnecting, and calling out into the ether in the hopes of rebuilding relationships. Indeed, Adele refers to 25 as "a make-up record. I'm making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did." It's also "about getting to know who I've become without realising [sic]."

Well, needless to say, we and the rest of the world are ready to say hello to whoever Adele has unknowingly become.

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