Co-written with Canadian songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr., the new song stray’s from the ballad style of the British singer’s explosively popular debut single Hello, offering a theme that centers around a party, rather than a breakup.
“It was based on us being older, and being at a party at this house, and seeing everyone that you’ve ever fallen out with, everyone that you’ve ever loved, everyone that you’ve never loved, and stuff like that, where you can’t find the time to be in each other lives,” Adele said in an interview on SirusXM radio, “And you’re all thrown together at this party when you’re like 50, and it doesn’t matter and you have so much fun and you feel like you’re 15 again.”
Growing up, accepting who one is, and moving on are all central themes on the singer’s latest album, which hits stores, and streaming services for the first time on November 20. A songwriter who has previously focused on pain and heartbreak rather than vindication, 25 is something of a new direction for Adele, even if the soul-based sound and instrumentation of her music remain largely the same.
The video performance of When We Were Young, features both Adele and her backing band dressed in all black. The video is an impressive look at the artist, to say the least, outlining what appears to be a perfectly-executed take that ends with Adele pulling the microphone from the stand, Mick Jagger style.
Such a passionate performance even seemed to surprise Adele herself.
“I’ve never done that in my life,” the songstress says of her impromptu mic-grab after the song ends, “It’s a whole new me.”
