Adele’s Shocking Attack on Complacency
No one broke Adele’s heart this time. Until now, her music has centered on the brutality of romantic rejection—the way it can throw a human soul against a wall, snapping bones that never heal right, instilling a kind of existential PTSD. Yet, though her new album is about “divorce, babe, divorce,” betrayal, cruelty, and nasty rumors are for once not part of the story. According to Adele’s interviews and lyrics, her marriage to Simon Konecki ended because, eight years into their relationship, she realized she was missing something important: happiness. So she walked out.
Whenever she, Adele has emphasized the deliberation that went into that decision. She acted only after consulting her best friends and her astrological chart, and she worked to minimize damage (her ex still lives across the street from Adele and their son; they’re on good terms). Yet what’s also clear is that she made the leap, fundamentally, because of something internal. Feelings propelled her to act, just as they propel her traffic-stopping vocal performances.
