Bracing change of pace for Adele

ADELE. Sings about the sobering and exhilarating joys of motherhood.

Nobody sings sad songs better than Adele—but, in her record-smashing third album, “25,” she uses the ineluctable resonance of her smoky vocals to come to terms with those severed ties (“Turning Tables,” “Chasing Pavements,” “Someone Like You”) and start anew. This time, she demonstrates that “making up” is just as musically productive as “breaking up.”

The bracing change of pace isn’t radical—but, it’s certainly just as dramatic! Take “Water Under The Bridge,” about her discombobulating relationship with current squeeze, Simon Konecki: “If I’m not the one for you, you’ve got to stop holding me the way you do.” —You can’t be any more radio-ready than that!

The back story of the 27-year-old songstress’ tabloid-fodder feud with her alcoholic dad, Mark Evans—who left Adele and her mother when she was 3 years old—is even more fascinating: Four years ago, she threw a fit after her father betrayed her trust by selling his story to a tabloid! She told Glamour, “If I ever see him, I will spit in his face! There are consequences other than just getting a bit of money that lasts you half a year.”

Adele revisits feelings of alienation, neglect and betrayal in the shimmery, Elton John-channeling ballad, “When We Were Young,” one of her favorites in the album. It is reportedly about Evans—and “everyone you’ve fallen out with, and everyone you’ve ever and never loved.” She has since patched things up with her father—after he disclosed that he was battling bowel cancer and expressed his desire to meet his grandson.

“Remedy,” a catchy track written for the singer’s 3-year-old son, Angelo, and the people she loves, plays out like Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.” Written after experiencing debilitating writer’s block, the hook-heavy tune is about devotion that cuts through distance and estrangement—and the realization that “every story has its scar.”

Baby sounds

Bookended by Angelo’s baby sounds, “The Sweetest Devotion” is about the alternately sobering and exhilarating joys of motherhood.

Adele’s penchant for self-examination gives music enthusiasts the freedom to make her “relatable” songs their own—like the album’s overachieving and gorgeously rendered carrier single, “Hello,” which is as much about hurting someone’s feelings as it is about “trying to stay in touch with myself.”

What makes Adele’s songs resonate with music lovers? It’s the fascinating fusion of intimate themes and moving music, framed by the singer’s soul-stirring interpretive ability, best exemplified by “Love in the Dark,” “I Miss You” and “All I Ask,” her lusciously realized collaboration with cowriter Bruno Mars.

Max Martin and Shellback give “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” as much a plea as it is a warning for the “one that got away,” a brisk and frisky vibe!