Adele delivers 'joy in sadness' with new album 25
British singer-songwriter talks to CBC's Shad on q and The National on Friday
Adele's 25 is smashing records, racking up blockbuster sales and dominating pop culture at the moment, but the British singer says her goal is to simply move people with her music.
Buoyed by her lead single Hello, which has become an online record-setter and features an indelible video by Quebec's Xavier Dolan, 25 delivers a fresh slate of songs infused with themes her fans will find familiar: romance, nostalgia, regret and resilience.
"I think sadness does connect with people, but I hope I don't only bring sadness. I'd like to bring joy to people as well, but sometimes you find joy in sadness," the 27-year-old singer told Shad, host of CBC Radio's q, this week during her whirlwind visit to New York.
"And you know, I'm not a devastated person. I get my devastation out when I'm writing my songs and if that brings any comfort to anyone, then that's great," she said.
25 has already set a new first-week sales record in the massive, crowded and influential U.S. music market and is poised to do the same elsewhere, including Canada and the U.K.
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It's just the latest feather in the Grammy, Oscar and Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter's cap. After drawing critical interest with her debut studio album 19, she released her sophomore album 21 in 2011 and became a global phenomenon, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide.
Still, while the London singer admits "it's a great luxury to dip in and out of" the experiences that fame affords, she tries to keep her feet firmly on the ground by surrounding herself with the same circle of honest, "real" friends she's had for years.
"My circle has definitely got smaller. But in terms of the core people in it...I'm a laughingstock to them. And I run everything past them, you know, and I mean I'm just not tempted in the slightest by anything that being famous has to offer," she noted.
"It ain't real, so I don't feel like you can get attached to something that's not real," Adele said.
"I'd rather live a real life and be a real person."
The singer, who gave birth to a son named Angelo in 2012, announced plans for a tour in support of 25 with a self-deprecating video posted via Facebook on Thursday.
Starting with the U.K. and Europe, the tour will begin Feb. 29 in Belfast.
