Adele reveals why she chose the producers for her new album 30

On Friday 19^th November, Adele is releasing 30 – her first album in six years. In her cover interview for THE FACE with author and journalist Candice Carty-Williams, she shared her thoughts on choosing the record’s producers.

In contrast to her previous album 25, which included 11 producers, Adele said that for 30 she ​“chose a relatively small pool of people” including legendary pop hitmaker Max Martin and his regular collaborator Shellback, as well as Greg Kurstin, Ludwig Göransson and Inflo – a member of the enigmatic group Sault who worked closely with Little Simz on her recent album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

Speaking on bonding with Inflo, who produced three tracks on 30 including Hold On, Adele explains that ​“We’re both from North London… He’s like the calmest person I’ve ever met, a really amazing, spiritual guy.” Adele also says that Inflo introduced her to the UK singer and Sault member Cleo Sol.

30​’s lead single, Easy on Me, was released on 15^th October. The song broke streaming records on both Spotify and Amazon Music, and topped charts around the world. Easy on Me was produced by Greg Kurstin, whose extensive discography includes work with Kylie Minogue, Sia and Lily Allen, to name a few. Before his work on 30, Kurstin produced three songs on 25 – Hello, Water Under the Bridge and Million Years Ago.

“Even outside of music we’re really close,” Adele told THE FACE of her relationship with Kurstin. ​“Our sons are the same age and I’m really close with his wife, so they’ve been friends along this journey I’ve been on for two years. I knew that I could say anything, sing anything, and they wouldn’t judge me.”

Adele says she ​“had the best time” working with Max Martin and Shellback, who produced and co-wrote the single Send My Love from 25. ​“Considering he’s Max Martin and what he’s done, he is the most level-headed, sincere person you could ever hope to meet,” Adele says. ​“He’s like a living legend; he never does interviews and stuff like that, so he might be uncomfortable with me saying it, but he’s like a real safe space for me.”

Ludwig Göransson is a Grammy-winning Swedish composer, songwriter and producer who has scored films such as Black Panther and Tenet, and works particularly closely with Childish Gambino as a producer.

“We just really got on and the chords and cadences that he has in his bank,” Adele said of Göransson’s contributions to 30. ​“I’ve never heard anything like it! He’s the coolest guy. There’s something about the Scandinavians that’s different. I don’t know where they get their fucking ideas from, but they are incredible.”