Men silently blubbered onto their laptops in the corner of Bird Library. Women tweeted all their sorrows. All of the crying emojis burst into real tears, covering our phone screens in emotion.

These were the results of Adele’s latest single, “Hello,” on the Syracuse University campus, and it’s no wonder why. Much like the rest of Adele’s music, the song is an emotional rollercoaster, and its music video makes her seem like the queen of pop music.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen or heard from Adele, and the song still holds the same melancholy vibe that “21” did.

That said, “Hello” possesses a vibrant powerhouse quality that, while still prevalent in “21,” is even more emotive. This is probably because she’s now 27 (her new album’s name is “25”), a mother and had a little break from the arduous experience that is navigating the music industry, so she’s coming back somewhat refreshed.

While Adele’s doing what she’s done before, but even better, I’d like to see her switch it up a bit. Her voice sounds more whole, possesses more depth and physically resonates into your ears in a way that we haven’t quite heard from Adele. She has more to work with than she ever did before, if you ever thought that was possible.

Although “21” was great and really propelled her into stardom, “19” is still my favorite album of hers. As a body of work, each song is consistently high-quality and emotive. It’s like you literally heard her growing up over the course of an album. “21” is consistent in song quality, but doesn’t have the same emotive diversity “19” does. I’d like to imagine that “21” will have been Adele’s dark album in her career, in the same way “Rated R” was for Rihanna. In order to keep listeners from getting bored, Adele needs to channel the increased emotive power of her voice in different ways, and perhaps going back to the whimsical roots of “19” would be a good thing.

Millions of people have proclaimed their love for “Hello” from the second it released (which oddly feels like forever ago considering how much it’s been talked about and listened to). As always, there will always be haters, and while I am anything but an Adele hater, I have to play devil’s advocate — it really is in the same vein of “21,” and fans are probably hoping for something new, or, if not new, maybe a little less consistently heavy.

Based on the song’s vibe, I’m not sure what direction the next body of work Adele releases is going to be like. Will she include any great covers like “Love Song?” Will she include any surprising collaborations? She hasn’t done so in the past, but it seems like everyone is into doing so these days (though her voice is one that really should stand alone). Bruno Mars is credited as helping write one of the songs on “25,” so perhaps he’ll be singing on it, too?

Hopefully Adele can infuse the simple whimsy of “19” and the powerhouse vocal ability she’s cultivated with the maturity of “21.” In any case, I can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve. Until then, “I’ll be waiting.” (I’m very sorry about this lame “21” pun, Adele fans.)

Isha Damle is a junior television, radio and film major. She rarely knows the actual lyrics to songs, but is good at faking it until she makes it. Plus, her version is probably better. She can be reached at idamle@syr.edu or on Twitter @ishadamle.

Published on November 3, 2015 at 9:53 pm