Grammy Award winning artist Adele is coming out of a long hiatus from the music industry. Her much anticipated album 25 has been tantalizing fans since 2013 after the release of her chart-topping sophomore album 21.

Adele initially made her breakthrough in the music industry in 2008 with her first album 19. While this album was successful, it did not compare to 21. Many songs on the album won numerous awards from the Grammy’s, the Billboard Music Awards and the Brit Awards.  

In 2014, Adele tweeted that the album could possibly be coming out towards the end of the year but was later shot down by her record label, who was only able to confirm that the title of the album would be 25. In contrast with her previous album, Adele conveys that this is a make-up album instead of a break-up album– making up for time that she lost wishing she was somewhere or with someone else, instead of living in the moment.

Whether or not Adele could top her success was uncertain until she dropped her newest single Hello which was released on Oct. 23. The music video was put on Vevo the same day, breaking Taylor Swift’s record for the most views in 24 hours. Although this may seem like the peak of success for Adele’s newest single, Hello’s prosperity does not stop there. Hello is currently the most listened to song on United States (U.S.) radio and also remained number one on the Billboard’s Hot 100 list up until the release of her album on Nov. 20. In total, Hello has sold 2,555,000 downloads in the first four weeks after its release.

Compared to her first major hit Rolling in the Deep, Hello has a raw and acoustic feel that Adele claimed would be prominent throughout the whole album. In an essence, 25 has a raw and soulful composition with the exception of songs, like Send My Love (To Your New Lover), which was produced by Swedish producer and Grammy winner Max Martin. This song is more upbeat and bubbly than other songs that she has created, almost eluding to a sound that could coincide with the pop music genre.

While Adele produces songs that are classified as pop music, Adele focused on her soulful roots in songs, such as Million Years Ago and River Lea. However, no one can forget about Adele’s well known breakup ballads that most people find so easily relatable. Love In the Dark and When We Were Young serve as just a few of these highly regarded heart wrenching love songs that Adele is known for.  

Adele worked with many other people in order to make this album flow the way that she wanted. Some of the finest producers have taken part in her latest album, including Martin. Martin has produced hit singles, such as Shake it Off by Taylor Swift and So What by Pink, and has also produced 54 other songs that have reached the top 10 charts.

25 has proven to be a record breaker, knocking Taylor Swift into second place for best selling record by selling approximately 3.38 million copies within the first weeks of its release. Some people believe that this has been partially due to the fact that Adele has not put her music on Spotify, which was also a move made by runner-up best selling artist Taylor Swift. Others believe that her sales have gone up due to her newly prevalent presence in the media, making appearances on shows, such as Saturday Night Live as well as The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Despite the disputed reason for her boosts in sales, it is safe to say that hard work, dedication and a dash of talent has contributed to Adele’s domination in the music industry.