Surprise! Not. Adele officially announces new album 30

Adele has announced that her long-awaited fourth album 30 will be released on Nov. 19, 2021.

“I was certainly nowhere near where I’d hoped to be when I first started it nearly 3 years ago,” Adele said in an Instagram statement that accompanied the release date reveal. It’s been six years since Adele’s last album, “25,” was released, and in that time, she went through a divorce that she calls “the most turbulent period of my life.”

Writing “30” became her “friend who came over with a bottle of wine and a takeaway to cheer my up,” the singer said. “My wise friend who always gave the best advice… That friend who snuck in and left a magazine with a face mask and some bath salts to make me feel loved while inadvertently reminding me not only what month it actually was but that I should probably exercise some self-care!”

Adele said she was “consumed by my own grief” during this fraught period, but is now ready to move on. “I’ve painstakingly rebuilt my house and my heart since then and this album narrates it. Home is where the heart is.”

The first single from the new album, “Easy on Me,” is due to be released on Oct. 15, and now we know the full album will follow close behind.

“25” won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year, so anticipation is sky-high for this long-in-the-works follow-up.