(Paris) Expectation aroused, cracks revealed, first single to records: all the ingredients are there for the diva-popstar Adele to find the top of the charts ahead of the other big sellers, ABBA, Drake or Ed Sheeran, with her new album 30 coming out Friday.
” His single Easy on me broke all records on Spotify with 24 million streams on the day of its release on October 15 and today (one month later), this song is over 260 million streams, and there, I say to myself, “but is that possible?” », Comments for AFP Nicolas du Roy, editorial director of Spotify.
What to anticipate the explosion Friday, the day of the release of 30 ? “I am not seeing, but in view of what happened with the single, I expect quite extraordinary figures, his album is very well done, we like it or not, but the songs stay in the head ”, continues this person in charge of the world leader of the platforms of streaming musical.
What do we see that a megastar amounts to? The record company does not deliver CDs or upstream recording links to journalists, unlike most other artists. And the press is invited to a confidential listening session, to avoid any leaks.
There is nothing glamorous about the exercise: ten journalists around a standard meeting table, as at the Parisian headquarters of Columbia / Sony, with laptops left in the locker room in an envelope. And let’s go for 58 minutes of listening.
“Transgenerational public”
First observation, in 30 (age she was when starting the album three years ago), not all tracks are calibrated on the model ofEasy on me, single all in vocal power (which bristles its detractors).
And unlike 25, the previous opus of 2015, the Londoner living in Los Angeles ventures into less classic formats.
If the strings of the violins are present on the first and the last piece Strangers by Nature and Love is a Game, Cry your Heart Out opens with a modulated electro-style voice.
Two songs, Can I Get It, with its gimmick – whistle, and Hold On, a piece of soulful bravery, will likely win the vote beyond the fan circle. The other titles will undoubtedly only satisfy the converts. Who are legion and should quickly give back her crown to the queen of the world musical rankings (48 million albums sold at 33).
“She has more than 62 million listeners per month with us, unsurprisingly her audience is more female, at 60%, and 70% of listeners are between 18 and 34 years old, it is a fairly young audience, but more adult. and more transgenerational than Billie Eilish for example, ”explains Nicolas du Roy.
“Anti-bling bling”
“The question we ask ourselves is ‘Why Adele?’ : beyond the well-written songs, she is anti-bling-bling, with an image close to people, she does not seem to live on another planet, she has a life course with weight problems , sentimental setbacks, ”continues the Spotify specialist.
The singer with 15 Grammies, Oscar winner for the B.O. of James Bond Sky Fall, has already confided in the course of interviews on the genesis of this disc therapy: to answer the many questions of her son Angelo, nine years old, on his recent divorce.
“At 30, my life collapsed without warning,” portrayed Adele in Vogue. “I have the impression that this album is self-destruction, then self-reflection and self-redemption.”
She says she lost about 45 kilograms by becoming addicted to physical exercise. “It was never about losing weight, it was about getting strong and giving myself as much time as possible each day away from my phone.”
But the faults are never far away. “I have to prepare to be famous again, which as everyone knows I don’t like to be”.