Adele 's new album "30" largely focuses on her recent divorce from Simon Konecki.- However, multiple songs include lyrics about a secret relationship she had after their separation.
Adele's new album "30" was largely inspired by her recent divorce — but multiple songs actually address a more recent, anonymous ex-boyfriend.
The 33-year-old singer split from her longtime partner Simon Konecki in 2018, shortly after they got married. Their divorce was finalized earlier this year.
Adele previously told British Vogue that much of "30" was designed to comfort their 9-year-old son Angelo, to explain why she "voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life."
However, she later told Rolling Stone that a few songs were written when she began dating again as a single mother in Los Angeles.
In fact, "All Night Parking" and "Woman Like Me" were both inspired by the first relationship she had after leaving Konecki. The former is set in the beginning honeymoon stage, while the latter finds the couple at their breaking point.
Adele said the secret long-distance relationship was "never going to work," though she described the experience as "a great learning curve and nice to feel loved."
"Woman Like Me" is particularly revealing. The song paints Adele's ex as lazy, complacent, and incapable of appreciating her value.
"Even though I'm directing all the things I'm saying at someone else, they're also things I've learned on this journey," she told Rolling Stone of the diss track. "The storyline of what I'm saying, I wouldn't have been able to write before because it was something that I was experiencing myself."
In another recent interview with The Face, Adele revealed the origin of the spoken-word outro in "I Drink Wine."
"Even though it was so much fun, I didn't get to go on and make new memories with him," Adele says in the song. "There were just memories in a big storm."
She explained "I Drink Wine" was partially inspired by a post-divorce relationship before she met her current partner, 39-year-old sports agent Rich Paul.
"There was someone that I have loved — not been in love with, but been so fond of, and have been for years — but I was unable to pretend that I wasn't in my own storm," she told The Face. "I couldn't give myself properly. I couldn't be consistent, and neither could he."
"It wasn't right, leaving a marriage and then dating a year after. Even if you feel ready, it's a gaping, open wound whether you leave or you're left," she continued. "So it was more that this person was asking for me to throw myself into it. And I couldn't because I was still recovering from the breakdown of my marriage."
"I associate him with the breakdown of my marriage," she added. "So therefore, he is part of the storm."
The public was previously unaware that Adele was dating anyone at the time. In fact, no one knew of her separation from Konecki for several months, until she made an announcement in April 2019.
Six months later, rumors circulated that Adele was in a relationship with Skepta, her friend and fellow British musician.
Adele has neither confirmed nor denied whether they officially dated, but according to Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos, none of the tracks on "30" are about the UK grime artist: "Adele was already done with the album before rumors of their romance even surfaced."
Adele and Paul met years ago at a mutual friend's party, but didn't become romantically involved until earlier this year.
"I did date before Rich, but they hated it," Adele told British Vogue. "They'd find it stressful being out or seen with me, which meant that I guarded all of it beyond. It never evolved because we were never experiencing things together. Whereas he's not frazzled by it at all."
"It feels like it's consistent and considerate enough that I don't care who knows," she added.