My Little Love Explained

My Little Love
Artist:Adele
Album:30
Released:19 November 2021
Genre:
Length:6:29
Label:Columbia
Producer:Greg Kurstin

"My Little Love" is a song by the English singer Adele from her fourth studio album, 30 (2021). Adele wrote it with its producer, Greg Kurstin. The song became available as the album's third track on 19 November 2021, when it was released by Columbia Records. "My Little Love" is a jazz, R&B, and soul song with a 1970s-style groove and influences of gospel music. The song incorporates voice notes of Adele's conversations with her son as she explains the effects of her divorce on his life and pleads for his understanding and forgiveness.

Critics generally praised "My Little Love", comparing it to the work of Marvin Gaye, Sade and Isaac Hayes. Reviews highlighted the emotionalism and vulnerability displayed in the song, but some found the inclusion of the voice notes excessive. The track reached the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden and entered the top 40 in several other countries.

Background

Adele began working on her fourth studio album by 2018.[1] She filed for divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki, in September2019,[2] which inspired the album. After experiencing anxiety, Adele undertook therapy sessions and mended her estranged relationship with her father.[3] The divorce's effect on her seven-year-old son plagued Adele during the following years. She decided to have regular conversations with him, which she recorded following advice from her therapist.[3] [4] These inspired Adele's return to the studio and the album took shape as a body of work that would explain to her son why she left his father.[3]

Adele wrote "My Little Love" with Greg Kurstin, who had produced three songs for her third studio album, 25 (2015)"Hello", "Million Years Ago", and "Water Under the Bridge".[5] During one of Adele's conversations with her son, he said: "I can't see you". She conceived "My Little Love" in a studio the following day and decided to incorporate voice notes of the conversation in the song, inspired by Tyler, the Creator and Skepta. Adele believed it "might be a nice touch" and give fans a window into her personal life. She recalled that creating the song cleared up some of the emotional chaos that was obstructing her ability to express her feelings.[6] Listening to it would calm Adele's anxiety about whether she answered her son's questions appropriately.[7]

Though Adele considered that her son might dislike "My Little Love" in the future, she thought it was an important song and decided to put it on the album: "He'll probably go through stages of hating it when he's a teenager… But it was an important part of the puzzle I was trying to figure out of my life—not the album—so I had to include it."[8] She released "Easy on Me" as the lead single from the album, entitled 30, on 14 October 2021.[9] Adele announced the tracklist on 1 November 2021, which included "My Little Love" as the third track.[10] The song became available for digital download on 30, which was released on 19 November.[11]

Composition

"My Little Love" is 6 minutes and 29 seconds long. Kurstin produced the song and engineered it with Julian Burg at No Expectations Studios in Los Angeles. Kurstin played bass, mellotron, piano, and steel guitar, and Chris Dave played drums and percussion. David Campbell arranged and conducted the strings, which were recorded at the EastWood Scoring Stage in Burbank, California. Tom Elmhirst mixed the song at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.

"My Little Love" is a jazz,[12] [13] R&B,[14] and soul[15] song which incorporates voice notes of Adele's conversations with her son. It is influenced by gospel music and 1970s soul. The song employs an arpeggiated late-night bar piano chord progression and a lightly oscillating funk bassline. According to Varietys Chris Willman, it has a groove that begins with a restrained electric piano and concludes in "swirls of orchestration".[16] Adele delivers vocals in a low register, which Annabel Nugent of The Independent considered analogous to "smoke pluming from a lit cigarette perched on an ashtray".[17] Several critics likened "My Little Love" to the work of Marvin Gaye; Vogues Abby Aguirre highlighted its elements—"sexy '70s groove, heavy strings, heavier lyrics", and NPR's Nate Chinen believed the similarity was in "the stylistic legacy of the song—down to the gently tripping melisma that concludes each line in the verse".[18] AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung believed the "smoky R&B production" recalls "early-2000s Alicia Keys", and Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times described it as "a lush soul jam with echoes of classic Isaac Hayes".

The lyrics of "My Little Love" are written from the perspective of a mother pleading for understanding and forgiveness from her child.[19] Adele discusses her divorce and admits her guilt about the way it has changed her son's life,[20] addressing herself as "mama" and him as "my little love". The voice notes from her son include him asking several questions. During the first bridge, Adele asks him to say he loves her, to which he replies: "I love you a million percent". This alternates in the second bridge, when he confesses that he "feel[s] like you don't love me" and Adele replies that she loves him more than anyone else.[21] At 1:54, she tells him that she has "been having a lot of big feelings recently"; she elaborates that she feels confused and lost after he implores her to explain what she means. She assures him that she still loves his father because he would not exist without the latter.[22] The song concludes with a voicemail Adele recorded for a friend, in which she confesses to having a hangover and experiencing anxiety, paranoia, and loneliness: "I feel like today is the first day since I left him that I feel lonely. And I never feel lonely[...] I feel a bit frightened that I might feel like this a lot."[23]

Critical reception

Critics praised "My Little Love" as raw, honest, and touching. The A.V. Clubs Gabrielle Sanchez observed a "push and pull[...] of a mother needing her son for support while feeling guilty about wearing these emotions on her sleeve for him to see",[24] and PopMatterss Peter Piatkowski thought "the discomfort grows as the emotional baggage depicted in the lyrics threaten to collapse whatever dam is holding Adele in".[25]

Some reviewers felt the inclusion of the voice notes on "My Little Love" was excessive. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph wondered "whether we really needed to hear home recordings of Adele laying all her woes on her own child or blubbering into her phone during bouts of insecurity";[26] Consequences Ilana Kaplan found them unnecessary but indicative of Adele's state of mind.[27] Reviewers also commented on Adele's expression of loneliness and vulnerability in the closing voicemail. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described it as "bold no-holds barred wound-showing" akin to John Lennon's song "Mother" (1970).[28] Pitchforks Jill Mapes believed it was "Adele's version of rock bottom",[29] and DIYs Emma Swann called it a "gut-wrenching climax".[30]

Critics considered "My Little Love" one of the most emotional songs on 30 and thought it displayed more vulnerability than Adele's previous work. Writing for Slant Magazine, Eric Mason found Adele's affirmation of her love for her son brought forth a more honest sense of sadness than her previous heartbreak-themed songs.[31] Exclaim!s Kyle Mullin said the song exemplified her thematic evolution in her releases of the preceding decade.[32]

David Cobbald of The Line of Best Fit thought "My Little Love" was the album's best showcase of Adele's creativity and skill.[33] Ranking the song 11th among the album tracks, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard stated that "Adele has never been bolder in her song construction".[34] Rolling Stone placed it at number 24 in a 2021 ranking of Adele's discography.[35]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "My Little Love" debuted at number five on the Official Audio Streaming Chart. The song charted at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at number 14 on the Canadian Hot 100. In Australia, "My Little Love" reached number 11. The song charted at number 10 in New Zealand. On the Billboard Global 200, it peaked at number 12. "My Little Love" reached several national record charts: at number 5 in Iceland, number 14 in the Netherlands, number 16 in Sweden, number 33 in Portugal, number 35 in Norway, number 37 in Denmark, and number 66 in France. The song received a gold certification in Brazil.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of 30.[36]

Charts

Chart (2021)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[37] 5

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Everything We Know So Far About Adele's New Album . . Ella . Braidwood . 25 June 2018 . 1 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181130161017/https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/everything-we-know-so-far-about-adeles-new-album-2343733 . 30 November 2018 . live .
  2. News: Adele Files for Divorce From Husband Simon Konecki . . 13 September 2019 . 12 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190913020322/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49684581 . 13 September 2019 . live .
  3. Web site: Aguirre. Abby. 7 October 2021. Adele on the Other Side. live. 8 October 2021. Vogue. en-US. 7 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211007235338/https://www.vogue.com/article/adele-cover-november-2021.
  4. Web site: Adele Voicenotes Reveal Emotional Discussions of Divorce with Her Son, Angelo. https://web.archive.org/web/20211119075648/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/adele-voicenotes-angelo-simon-konecki-b1960609.html . 19 November 2021 . limited . live. O'Connor. Roisin. The Independent. 19 November 2021. 25 December 2021.
  5. 25. Adele. 2015. XL Recordings and Columbia Records.
  6. Legardye . Quinci . Adele Opens Up About 'Intense' Conversations with Her Son in 'My Little Love' . . 21 October 2023 . 24 November 2021 . live . 8 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208044234/https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a38344392/adele-my-little-love-intense-conversations-with-her-son/ .
  7. Lynch . Joe . Adele's 30 Features Voice Memos From Her Son & 5 Other Revelations From Her Rolling Stone Interview . . 21 October 2023 . 11 November 2021 . live . 4 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230404235314/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/adele-30-voice-memo-angelo-son-9658491/ .
  8. Web site: Balagtas . Tristan . Adele Says Son Angelo Will 'Probably Go Through Stages of Hating' Song 'My Little Love' . . 16 October 2023 . 24 November 2021 . live . 28 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230228024221/https://people.com/parents/adele-says-son-angelo-will-probably-go-through-stages-of-hating-song-my-little-love/ .
  9. Iasimone . Ashley . Adele Considered Three 'Very Different' Options Before Releasing 'Easy on Me' as New Single . . 4 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117021535/https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/adele-30-songs-first-single-easy-on-me-9646374/ . 17 November 2021 . 17 October 2021 . live.
  10. Web site: Earl. William. 1 November 2021. Adele's 30 Tracklist Revealed, Featuring the Amazingly Titled 'I Drink Wine'. live. 2 November 2021. Variety. en-US. 11 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211111203924/https://variety.com/2021/music/news/adele-30-tracklist-i-drink-wine-1235102162/.
  11. Web site: 'My Little Love' by Adele . Apple Music (US) . 16 October 2023 . live . 29 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230529042213/https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-little-love/1590035691?i=1590036026 .
  12. Web site: Parker . Lyndsey . Lyndsey Parker . Hear Adele's Raw, Recorded Conversations About Divorce with Son Angelo on Devastating 30 Track 'My Little Love' . . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211120100313/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hear-adeles-raw-recorded-conversations-about-divorce-with-son-angelo-on-devastating-30-track-my-little-love-075357331.html . 20 November 2021 . 19 November 2021 . live.
  13. Web site: Hunt . El . Adele – 30 Album Review: Dependable Pop Titan Finally Mixes Things Up . . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117031248/https://www.nme.com/reviews/adele-30-album-review-dependable-pop-titan-finally-mixes-things-up-3096613 . 17 November 2021 . 17 November 2021 . live.
  14. Johnston . Maura . Maura Johnston . 30 Review: Adele Lets Her Emotions Guide Her on Her Deeply Personal Fourth Album . . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211119231511/https://ew.com/music/music-reviews/adele-30-review/ . 19 November 2021 . 19 November 2021 . live.
  15. Web site: Wood . Mikael . Review: There Are Many Heirs to Her Throne, but Adele Is Still Queen of the Ugly-Cry Ballad . . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117000431/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-11-16/adele-30-album-review . 17 November 2021 . 16 November 2021 . live.
  16. Web site: Willman . Chris . Adele's 30 Is Her Emotionally Rawest, Riskiest and Best Record: Album Review . . 21 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117042720/https://variety.com/2021/music/album-reviews/adele-30-album-review-1235113555/ . 17 November 2021 . 16 November 2021 . live.
  17. Web site: Nugent . Annabel . Adele Review, 30: Patron Saint of Heartbreak Licks Her Wounds in a Divorce Album That Takes Risks . . 21 October 2023 . 19 November 2021 . live . 3 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203212002/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/adele-30-new-album-release-review-b1960584.html .
  18. Web site: Chinen . Nate . The Jazz Dalliance on Adele's 30 Runs Deeper Than a Sampled Groove . . 16 October 2023 . 19 November 2021 . live . 18 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230418030212/https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1057381765/the-jazz-dalliance-on-adeles-30-runs-deeper-than-a-sampled-groove .
  19. Kaufman . Gil . Adele's 'My Little Love' & Six Other Songs From Famous Moms About Their Kids . . 16 October 2023 . 24 November 2021 . live . 9 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209140824/https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/mom-songs-dedicated-children-1235001316/ .
  20. Web site: Stump . Scott . Adele Explains Divorce to Son Angelo, 9, on 'My Little Love' From 30 . . 21 October 2023 . 19 November 2021 . live . 20 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230920233357/https://www.today.com/popculture/music/adele-explains-divorce-son-angelo-little-love-30-rcna6140 .
  21. Web site: Rice . Nicholas . Adele Tries to Explain Her Divorce to Son, 9, in Voice Notes on Emotional Song from New Album 30 . . 21 October 2023 . 19 November 2021 . live . 23 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230323033111/https://people.com/parents/adele-explains-divorce-son-angelo-voice-notes-song-30/ .
  22. Web site: Potton . Ed . Adele, Angelo and 'My Little Love': When Singers Put Their Children on Record . . 21 October 2023 . 17 November 2021 . live . subscription . 10 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220210092025/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/adele-angelo-and-my-little-love-when-singers-put-their-children-on-record-brw88jsng .
  23. Web site: Gonzales . Erica . Adele's Song 'My Little Love' Includes Conversations with Her Son About Her Divorce . . 21 October 2023 . 19 November 2021 . live . 13 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221013060802/https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a38301462/adele-my-little-love-lyrics-meaning/ .
  24. Web site: Sanchez . Gabrielle . Adele Reaches New Heights on 30, Her Best Album to Date . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211123171423/https://www.avclub.com/adele-reaches-new-heights-on-30-her-best-album-to-date-1848102061 . 23 November 2021 . 23 November 2021 . live.
  25. Web site: Piatkowski . Peter . Adele: 30 (Album Review) . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211122152315/https://www.popmatters.com/adele-30-album-review . 22 November 2021 . 22 November 2021 . live.
  26. Web site: McCormick . Neil . Neil McCormick . Adele, 30, Review: Fiercely Honest and Shockingly Raw, This Is Her Best Album Yet . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117005135/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/adele-30-review-fiercely-honest-shockingly-raw-best-album-yet/ . 17 November 2021 . 17 November 2021 . live.
  27. Web site: Kaplan . Ilana . Adele's 30 Is Much More Than a Divorce Album – It's a Hard-Won Journey to Self-Love . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117000253/https://consequence.net/2021/11/adele-30-review-album/ . 17 November 2021 . 16 November 2021 . live.
  28. Web site: Petridis . Alexis . Alexis Petridis . Adele: 30 Review – The Defining Voice of Heartbreak Returns . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117133209/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/17/adele-30-album-review-the-defining-voice-of-heartbreak-returns . 17 November 2021 . 17 November 2021 . live.
  29. Web site: Mapes . Jill . Adele: 30 Album Review . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211122050156/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/adele-30/ . 22 November 2021 . 22 November 2021 . live.
  30. Web site: Swann . Emma . Adele - 30 . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117005148/https://diymag.com/2021/11/17/adele-30-album-review . 17 November 2021 . dead.
  31. Web site: Mason . Eric . Review: With 30, Adele Expands Her Brand of Pop-Soul Into Ever More Expressive Terrain . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211120031821/https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/adele-30-album-review/ . 20 November 2021 . 19 November 2021 . live.
  32. Web site: Mullin . Kyle . Adele Pushes Her Songcraft to Even Grander Heights on 30 . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211122155401/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/adele_30_album_review . 22 November 2021 . 22 November 2021 . live.
  33. Web site: Cobbald . David . Adele's 30 Takes a Bold Leap Into the Unknown . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117000755/https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/adele-30-album-review . 17 November 2021 . 17 November 2021 . live.
  34. Lipshutz . Jason . Every Song Ranked on Adele's 30: Critic's Picks . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211119052712/https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/adele-30-tracks-ranked-critics-picks-1235000116/ . 19 November 2021 . 19 November 2021 . live.
  35. Every Adele Song, Ranked . . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220611084116/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/every-adele-song-ranked-1268578/my-little-love-1268695/ . 11 June 2022 . 9 December 2021 . live.
  36. 30. Adele. 2021. Columbia Records.
  37. Web site: Tónlistinn – Lög. Plötutíðindi. is. The Music – Songs. 16 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20211129190021/http://plotutidindi.is/tonlistinn/. 29 November 2021.

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