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Hello (Adele song)

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"Hello"
Song

"Hello" is a song by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 23 October 2015 by XL Recordings as the lead single from her upcoming third studio album, 25 (2015). The song marks her return to music after a three-year hiatus, being her first release since "Skyfall" in 2012.[1] After suffering with writers block Adele met with producer Greg Kurstin; during their sessions Adele had a breakthrough and co-wrote "Hello" along with Kurstin, with the latter also producing the record.[2][3] "Hello" is a power ballad with influences of soul and chamber pop music. Lyrically, the song discusses themes of nostalgia and regret.

The song received universal acclaim from music critics, who compared it favourably to Adele's previous work. The accompanying music video was directed by Xavier Dolan and co-stars Adele and Tristan Wilds. The music video for the song broke the previous Vevo Record by achieving over 27.7 million views within a 24-hour span.[4]

Recording and release

"This song was a massive breakthrough for me with my writing because it'd been pretty slow up to this point, and I felt after I worked with Greg Kurstin on this, it all poured right out of me."

— Adele, speaking with Jenny Eliscu and Zane Lowe about "Hello"[5]

Adele wrote "Hello" with Greg Kurstin, who also handled the song's production, in Chiswick, London.[6] The bass, guitar, piano, and keyboards are credited to Kurstin, while Adele is credited as a drummer on the track.[7] After suffering with writers block, Adele met with producer Kurstin and began work on "Hello", Adele described the song as a "massive breakthrough" creatively, putting an end to her writer's block.[8] In 2015, Adele traveled to Los Angeles to give 25 "one last push". During these sessions, she re-recorded her vocals for "Hello". Upon hearing the new version of the track, she "instantly knew it would be the perfect introduction" to 25.[9]

On 18 October, a 30-second clip of "Hello" was played during a commercial break on The X Factor in the United Kingdom. The commercial teased what was then new material, with her vocals accompanied by lyrics on a black screen.[10] Following the thirty second premiere of the lead single, the internet and Adele's fans were described as loosing their mind, according to Jason Merritt of Vanity Fair who also stated that Adele had "Stymied a Planet".[11] On 22 October, Adele announced the upcoming release of 25 via a heartfelt letter to fans on Twitter. She also shared that "Hello" would be released on 23 October as the lead single off of the album.[12][13][14] On 23 October, Adele joined Nick Grimshaw's show on BBC Radio 1 for the song's premiere.[15]

Composition

Greg Kurstin contributed co-writing and production credit for "Hello".

"Hello" is played in the key of F minor at a tempo of 79 beats per minute.[16] The repeated chord progression heard in the verse, played by the piano, follows a progression of Fm–A♭–E♭–D♭.[17][18] Adele's vocals span from F3 to A♭5 in the song.[19]

Lyrically, the song focuses on themes of nostalgia and regret and plays out like a conversation with one or more relationships of her past, as she told Nick Grimshaw on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show: "I felt all of us were moving on, and it’s not about an ex-relationship, a love relationship, it's about my relationship with everyone that I love. It's not that we have fallen out, we've all got our lives going on and I needed to write that song so they would all hear it, because I'm not in touch with them."[20]

Critical reception

Upon release, "Hello" received universal acclaim from music critics. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described it as "a big ballad, but a superior example of its kind", and opined that the song is "precisely the kind of lovelorn epic ballad that made Adele one of the biggest stars in the world."[21] Writing for The Independent, Emily Jupp stated in her review of the song that it "might not be groundbreaking, but Adele's return with her familiar, smoky sound is very welcome". She called it an "'if it ain’t broke' ballad" and said: "Adele does what she does best, belting out emotional tales of love and loss much the same as with her last album, 21, but this time, with a little more self-forgiveness."[22] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Lyrics that work best when they zoom in on personal details match her combination of vocal power and restraint."[23]

Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph called it "a beautiful song of loss and regret", adding that "it takes a grip on the kind of memory every listener holds somewhere in their heart and merges it with Adele’s own drama."[24] Several publications, such as Radio Times and The Daily Telegraph, have remarked that Adele's song bears many similarities with a song of the same name by American soul artist Lionel Richie.[25][26]

Commercial performance

After three days of release, the Official Charts Company announced that "Hello" had accumulated 165,000 chart sales in the United Kingdom, of which 156,000 were downloads,[27] and downloaded 750,000 times in the United States, breaking the full week sales record.[28]

Music video

"[The video] is highly unoriginal. The lyrics are 'Hello, it's me' and then you see someone picking up a phone. I'm not good at imagining super conceptual videos. I just thought it would be nice to have her walk around the house and make phone calls and end up in a forest, with maybe some flashbacks in it."

—Dolan, behind the concept of the music video[29]

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Canadian actor and director Xavier Dolan which was released on 23 October 2015.[30][31] The concept of the video revolves around a recently broken-up woman calling a younger version of herself.[29] Portions of the video—mostly the finale on the pond and the shot of her opening her eyes in the beginning—were filmed with IMAX cameras making it the first music video to be in IMAX format.[32] The video draws inspiration from Dolan's semi-autobiographical debut I Killed My Mother which was made when Dolan was barely 20.[29] The video was filmed on a farm in Quebec over a few days in September 2015.[29]

The video stars American actor Tristan Wilds. Dolan contacted Wilds via Skype, and explained the concept for the then upcoming video which Wilds agreed to take part in.[33] During the filming both Adele and Tristan were asked to improvise and "tap into" their past relationships in order to convey the correct emotions, Dolan also filmed shots of both Adele and Tristan having conversations and laughing to include in the video.[33] The sepia toned video, which stars Tristan Wilds features Adele performing the song in a small house and outside in a wooded forest, intercut with scenes of a tearful phone call and flashbacks to a past relationship with Wilds' character.[34]

The music video for the song broke the previous Vevo Record by achieving over 27.7 million views within a 24-hour span.[35] The phrase "adele hello" was also the top YouTube search term of Friday and Saturday and on average the video was getting one million views per hour during the first two days, peaking at 1.6 million in a single hour beating that of the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which peaked at 1.2 million views per hour.[36]

Live performances

Adele is scheduled to perform "Hello" for the first time on Saturday Night Live on 21 November 2015.[37]

Charts

Charts (2015) Peak
position
Canada AC (Billboard)[38] 29
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[39] 40
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[40] 37
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[41] 14
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[42] 20
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[43] 25
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[44] 35
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[45] 50

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide 23 October 2015 Digital download XL
Italy[46] Mainstream radio
United States[47][48] 26 October 2015 Hot/Modern/AC Columbia
27 October 2015 Mainstream radio

References

  1. ^ Joseph Neese. "Adele makes history after hiatus as she says 'Hello' again to fans". MSNBC. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Adele Reveals Release Date, Tracklist for '25' Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  3. ^ Guardian music (22 October 2015). "Adele confirms album release date and new single, Hello". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  4. ^ "#Hello, 27.7M views in one day! @Adele just snatched the 24 hr record". Twitter. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Adele Speaks Out On SiriusXM, Beats Radio 1, 'Hello' Explodes Worldwide". All Access.
  6. ^ "Adele: "My son doesn't like my music, I just sing Twinkle Twinkle"". BBC Radio 2. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Radio on Adele's 'Hello': 'She Can Make You Feel What She Feels'". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  8. ^ "Adele Speaks Out On SiriusXM, Beats Radio 1, 'Hello' Explodes Worldwide". All Access. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  9. ^ "Adele's new single first listen review: 'Hello' is a mighty comeback". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  10. ^ "Adele 'teases new material in TV advert'". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  11. ^ http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/10/adele-teaser-x-factor-commerical
  12. ^ "Adele reveals the release date for her third studio album, 25, and new single". BBC. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  13. ^ Geslani, Michelle. "Adele confirms new album is titled 25, first single coming next week". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  14. ^ Hunt, Chase. "Adele announces new album '25'; new single 'Hello' out Oct. 23". AXS. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Adele premieres 'intimate' new song". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  16. ^ "Key and BPM of Adele - Hello". AudioKeychain.
  17. ^ "Adele "Hello" official sheet music". Sheet Music Direct. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Adele "Hello" official sheet music Musicnotes". Musicnotes. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Hello By Adele - Digital Sheet Music". musicnotes.com. Musicnotes, Inc. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  20. ^ Rachael Bletchly (23 October 2015). "Adele: Fame is toxic and touring is lonely...people have paid to see me but what if they don't like me". mirror. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  21. ^ Petridis, Alexis (23 October 2015). "Striking, witty and lovelorn – Adele's new single Hello reviewed (and hear it here, too)". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  22. ^ Jupp, Emily (23 October 2015). "Adele 'Hello', first review: This is an 'if it ain't broke' ballad showing what Adele does best". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  23. ^ Kot, Greg (23 October 2015). "Adele's new song 'Hello' a safe balancing act". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Adele, 'Hello', review: 'delivers raw, honest feeling'". The Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  25. ^ Horton, Helena (26 October 2015). "Lionel Richie responds to Adele's 'Hello'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-10-26/hello-adele-is-it-lionel-richie-youre-looking-for
  27. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34641642
  28. ^ Wass, Mike (26 October 2015). "Adele's "Hello" Has Already Sold 750,000 Downloads, Breaks First-Day Sales, VEVO & Streaming Records". Spinmedia.
  29. ^ a b c d Steven Zeitchik (October 23, 2015). "Director of Adele's 'Hello' video explains its look, theme and, oh yes, flip phone". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  30. ^ "Adele enlists Xavier Dolan for new music video Hello". CBC News. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  31. ^ Spanos, Brittany (22 October 2015). "Adele Unveils '25' Track List, Plans 'Hello' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 October 2015. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  32. ^ Rosen, Christopher (23 October 2015). "Adeles's powerful 'Hello' Video Already Made History". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  33. ^ a b http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/26/adele-hello-tristan-mack-wilds
  34. ^ Tyrrell, Rebecca (23 October 2015). "The guy in Adele's new music video might look familiar to you". Metro. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  35. ^ Groves, Nancy (27 October 2015). "Adele's Hello beats Taylor Swift's record for most-viewed video in 24 hours". Guardian.
  36. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34659073/people-are-playing-adele-one-million-times-an-hour-on-youtube
  37. ^ Strecker, Erin (26 October 2015). "Adele Announced as 'Saturday Night Live' Musical Guest". Billboard. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  38. ^ "Chart Seach". Billboard Canada AC for Adele. Retrieved 29 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ "Chart Seach". Billboard Canada CHR/Top 40 for Adele. Retrieved 29 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ "Chart Seach". Billboard Canada Hot AC for Adele. Retrieved 29 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  41. ^ "Adele Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  42. ^ "Adele Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  43. ^ "Adele Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  44. ^ "Adele Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  45. ^ "Adele Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard.
  46. ^ "Adele - Hello Radiodate". radioairplay.fm. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  47. ^ "Hot/Modern/AC > Future Releases". allaccess.com. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  48. ^ "Top 40 Mainstream > Future Releases". allaccess.com. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
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