Adele 30 review round-up: New album described as a "devastating comeback" and "her best album yet"

Ahead of its anticipated release this Friday (November 17), reviews have begun to trickle in for the new Adele album, 30. 

In a list of reviews by publications on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems that fans can expect the most personal and sonically diverse record yet from Adele. 

In a five-star review, Rolling Stone called 30 the best Adele album yet, a record where "[Adele is] more alive to her own feelings[...] shaping them into songs in the key of her own damn life."

Another glowing write-up came courtesy of Variety, who calls 30 an album full of risks for Adele that ultimately pay off; "there’s a bracing maturity in these 12 tracks that’s more emotionally complex and intriguing than the rather more easy-to-follow woe of [19, 21 and 25]."

MORE: Listen to I Drink Wine, the next single from 30

However, a more tepid review comes from El Hunt at NME, praising Adele for taking risks with her music, but criticising some of the lyricism at play. "it’s refreshing to see the pop titan treading braver territory," they say, "even if the hit-rate isn’t 100 per cent."

Of stand-out album tracks, The Times single out Can I Get It (made with pop hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback) as "a storming radio hit with Ennio Morricone-style whistling and a groove you can dance to," while Evening Standard calls My Little Love "the saddest song of all [...] truly heartbreaking."

Meanwhile, on the chart it's once again shaping up to a busy week for Adele's comeback single Easy On Me, which is currently tied in a closely-fought battle with Ed Sheeran's Shivers for a fifth consecutive week at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart.