Easy on Me!

The way I write my songs is that I have to believe what I'm writing about, and that's why they always end up being so personal - because the kind of artists I like, they convince me, they totally win me over straight away in that thing. Like, 'Oh my God, this song is totally about me.

Adele

Anyone that know me knows I’m a huge Adele fan so, quelle surprise, I’ve been super excited about the launch of her new single, "Easy on Me" which hit the airways at midnight on Friday Morning. I listened to it over breakfast and thought… okay, it sounds, well… okay. In summary, I was a little deflated, it certainly wasn’t going to be another “Someone Like You”, (my karaoke default and yes, I’m equally as rubbish as everyone else trying to sing in the style of the amazing Adele!), oh well, thinks me.

Subsequently I’ve listened a few more times and I’m totally converted, no, it’s not going to be another Someone Like You and you know what, it really doesn’t need to be, it’s absolutely brilliant in its own right. I think I was a little surprised by some of the notes and tones in the song originally but now, I see a relatively new Adele, still the all that pathos in the lyrics and the tone in her voice but, there’s a new and utterly brilliant style in her voice, I’m totally in love, I’ve gone from meh to tearing up at the lyrics and the way they’re presented!

But, that’s the humble opinion of joe public, what do the experts think?

The song is taken from her forthcoming album, 30, which is set to arrive next month via XL recordings.

In a four-star review of the song, The Independent’s Alexandra Pollard applauds the “crisp, plaintive and mature comeback”.

“Her songs are always polished but never to the point of soullessness,” reads the positive review.

Evening Standard’s five-star review of the track describes it as “quintessential Adele”, adding that the singer remains “impervious to today’s pop music trends”.

Jochan Embley continued to say that while “Easy on Me” does not match the “sorrow of ‘Someone Like You’” or the “emotional heights of ‘Hello’”, it is “just as powerful”.

In a review for Variety, Chris Willman writes that the new track sees Adele “taking responsibility” for her part in the “downfall of a relationship”.

“It’s Adele and just a piano from beginning to end… and the faintest hint of rhythm if you squint into the ether,” says Willman.

A four-star review for The Times described “Easy on Me” as “a great tune” that “won’t change the world”.

It reads: “The song itself is exactly what you would expect, with some sad yet somehow uplifting piano chords holding down words about growing up in public and making mistakes accordingly.”

While the critic states that the track is “nice and accomplished”, he also notes: “I couldn’t help but feel a sheen of thoroughly American professionalism that stops the emotions from really hitting home in the way they did on ‘Someone Like You’.” (The Times critic is wrong, just saying!)

The Telegraph gave the song a five-star review, calling it a “bold comeback single”,

“The bare bones ballad” is “a thing of beauty and wonder”, writes the publication’s critic.

In an interview with Vogue, Adele recently revealed that she wrote the song for her son Angelo to help him better understand her choices in the wake of her divorce to his father Simon Konecki, that’s the bit that makes me cry when I hear it now!

Not heard it yet – here it is!

What’s on this week?