LISTEN: Adele debuts what's likely to be the biggest single of the year

Music
23 Oct 15

'Hello' is a melodramatic stunner!

As promised yesterday by her in a social media posting, Adele has introduced the world to her new single, ‘Hello’, with a dramatic story video.
The song is what you’ve come to expect from Ms. Adkins - lung-bursting swooping vocals, everything including the kitchen sink production and a chorus you’ll be humming till Christmas.

"Hello from the other side/ I must have called a thousand times/ To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done," she says to a former and far away lover.

The song received its premiere this morning on Nick Grimshaw's BBC Radio One breakfast show; you can hear his interview with Adele below. She was up at 3am to get her hair and make-up done and was in effervescent form.

"I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed but I'm really, really excited and relieved because I've been sitting on this for a while," she said. "Getting into the head space to write a record I found really difficult because now I'm a parent. It was such a break off that I fell out of the habit of writing songs."

The parent album, 25, follows on November 20 which is glorious news for record retailers. As hugely successful as Hozier’s debut album has been, to date it's sold 1.5 million copies. Despite his omnipresence this year, neither of Ed Sheeran’s records have broken through the 10 million barrier. Adele’s last studio outing, 21, on the other hand has shifted more than 30 million units, making it the most successful album of the decade.

The 'Hello' video is the work of Cannes Jury Prize winning director Xavier Dolan (Mommy, Tom At The Farm).

"It was a privilege to direct the music video for Adele's beautiful, heartbreaking song," Dolan says. "When I first heard it, all the images were already running by so clearly in my head - and her trust and generosity allowed me to create freely."

The video was shot in mid-October outside Montreal with the Canadian director enthusing that, "Being on set with her was wonderful. And the thought of directing her in the "acting" aspect of the term was exciting. I discovered that she's a very talented actress - no matter what she'll tell you. It was a great experience. Adele allowed me to dive into this full throttle, so I could abandon myself artistically and emotionally, like she always does. It made me extremely proud."

The video also features a cameo by American actor Tristan Wilds of The Wire and The Secret Life Of Bees fame.

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