 'Hello,' Adele, it's your fans and they've lost it over your single! It is full of phrases that might have just been dropped into a spoken conversation, notably the moment when she acknowledges: “It’s so typical of me to talk about myself.” And then there’s that very unpretentious delivery, where she twists syllables and sounds like someone you might meet at a bus stop suddenly pouring her heart out. The rest of the letter is a reflection on turning 25 and becoming an adult, with Adele recalling how she always wanted to be older than she was.
– Adele is out with her first new song in three years, and the Internet is decidedly happy about it. Five reactions to "Hello," the first single from Adele's 25, which will be released Nov. 20: "The song [is] a heart-wrenching ballad about a woman who's nostalgic for the not-so-distant past," writes Puja Patel on The Concourse. "It's soulful, easy-listening with a thunderous hook—a classic Adele sing-along if there ever was one. ... [The song] is a reminder of exactly why Adele so easily outsells her peers." "Everything people like about Adele’s vocals can be heard on this recording: emotional veracity, directness, melodic elegance, a balance of intimacy and fireworks," writes Neil McCormick in the Telegraph. "'Hello' is a class act, an old fashioned ballad that never hurries, never overdoes it, but delivers the raw, honest feeling that has made Adele a superstar. In today’s overcooked climate of histrionic plastic pop excess, it unfolds like a breath of pure pop oxygen." USA Today has a roundup of excited tweets, and there are more where those came from. One of our faves, from Hunter Schwarz: "RT if you’re sitting at your desk listening to Adele crying. fav if you’re holding it all in, trying to keep yourself together." It's not just the song itself winning praise: "While the video is intimate, it also has an epic feel to it. That large-scale feeling is likely due to the fact that 'Hello' is the first music video to ever film with IMAX cameras. Leave it to Adele to come back in a major way," writes Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson, who deems the video "technologically groundbreaking." MTV's headline: "Adele's ‘Hello’ Is Emotional, Heartbreaking And Will Leave You Drowning In Tears." And the deck: "It's just so good." Click to see what Adele has revealed about the rest of the album.