Prepare the tissues: Adele announced her upcoming album, 30, and it’s sure to be a true tearjerker. Returning on the scene from a mysterious 6-year hiatus, the global icon announced the November 19 release of her highly-anticipated fourth studio album. In a lengthy note, Adele reflects on the recording and creation of her most personal project yet, writing, “It was my ride or die throughout the most turbulent period of my life,” fore- shadowing the intense themes surrounding her recent divorce and the altered relation- ship with her son. Taking her emotional struggles and inner turmoil, Adele manages to weave together a twelve-song record with the vulnerability and honesty many songwriters aspire to reach.

The lead single, “Easy On Me,” released on October 15, serves as Adele’s most thematically unique piece, imploring her future partner to go “easy on her.” The heartbreaking ballad, with its flawless falsetto and meaningful message, serves as an example of the Grammy winner’s growth as not only artist but a person, in addition to what can be expected from 30. The star’s comeback from her half-decade disappearance hit the right note with music-hungry fans, shattering Spotify and Amazon Music records in only a day. Truly demonstrating the grip and influence Adele maintains on the music landscape, the track broke the Spotify record for the most single-day streams of any song in history: 24 million. Easily becoming one of the star’s most successful songs, “Easy On Me” manages to pull on our heartstrings, leaving us wanting more from one of the quintessential stars of our century. In actuality, “easy” is an understatement and red herring of what 30 entails.

Elegance and emotional intensity carry on throughout the record as Adele harmonizes her deepest struggles and internal conflicts. In just under an hour, 30 leads us down Adele’s path of motherhood, anxiety and true heartache. “My Little Love” oozes vulnerability with its personal integrations of vocal passages and recorded conversations with her son. Maternal pangs suffuse the track, giving us a sense of not only the singer’s struggles, but her son Angelo’s as well. Adele admits she felt lost, not knowing what to do, as they both coped and adjusted to the vocalist’s divorce. “I can’t make that make sense to a nine-year-old,” she told Vogue. The immediate fan favorite “Oh My God” explores Adele’s attempts at pursuing love while emphasizing preserving her self-worth. Its driving beats and catchy “lord don’t let me’s” near the end help polish this track as a rare upbeat piece from the queen of somber ballads. Thematically, the project serves as her most carefully crafted to me. Her thoroughly written poetic lyrics prove she hasn’t lost a bit of her glimmer after all these years. Instead of appealing to younger audiences through trendy contemporary beats, the vocalist encapsulates the soul and elegant sound expected from her. My personal consensus is that Adele stepped far out of her comfort zone to create not only an album, but a true piece of art both musically magnificent and thematically beautiful.

Although Adele is continuing her “number-titled” album saga, a new chapter has begun for the star: one of self healing and growth out of a period of chaos and uncertainty. Through thick and thin, a beautiful project emerges from a time of pain. Get ready to say “Hello” to the other, more personal and open side of Adele.