Adele Takes Fans Into A Relationship On 21

British singer/songwriter Adele says she has fallen in and out of love twice, one love per album. Named for her age, Adele's new album "21" depicts a matured woman, one who has lost love but has gained a sense of self-worth.

In a throaty alto, Adele sings of emotional abuse, of addiction and of the remnants of relationships. The 11 tracks on "21" take listeners into a relationship - its highs, its lows and its very lows - and out the other side. Adele launched onto the musical scene in 2008 with her debut album "19." In 2009, she won Grammy awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

"21" debuts in the U.S. on Feb. 22. It has been the top-selling album in the United Kingdom for the past three weeks. The album's first single, "Rolling in the Deep," was released on Nov. 29. With bluesy vocals and a penetrating rhythm, the song portrays the breaking point in a relationship, said Adele in a video interview published on her website.

"[The song is] my reaction to being told my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish and that I was a weak person if I didn't stay in the relationship," said Adele. "So I was very insulted, and this was my way of saying 'F* you.'"

"Rolling in the Deep" also embodies a turning point in Adele's career. Co-written and produced by British producer Paul Epworth, the song gives this historically pop vocalist an indie edge. Its driving percussion is akin to that of Florence and the Machine (who have also worked with Epworth).

Adele credits this change in her sound to the bus driver on her American tour for "19.""He would be rocking out to all this amazing country and blues and gospel and bluegrass, and I was constantly like, 'Who's this? Where's this from,'" said Adele in an interview with MSN.

Adele said this "musical education" can be particularly heard in the track "Rumor Has It," which was written about the gossipy nature of some of her friends. Unlike in "19," which Adele describes as "moody" and relying heavily on heartfelt ballads, "21" examines failed relationships from an adult's perspective. No longer the victim, Adele takes responsibility for her transgressions in the relationship.

In the track "Don't You Remember," she sings "I know I have a fickle heart and bitterness/And a wandering eye, and a heaviness in my head." Despite this admission, Adele urges the object of the song to remember why he loved her before the break-up.

Remembrance is a common theme on this full-length. As she copes with her failed relationship, she holds tight onto its memories. In "Rolling in the Deep," she calls on the "scars of your love" as a reminder of what could have been. In "Someone Like You," she begs an old love not to forget her after he has found someone new.

The most emotionally-charged track on "21," "He Won't Go," tells the story of a couple whose relationship is strained by a heroin addiction. Adele, who wrote the song from the perspective of the woman who is in love with the addict, questions, "Will he still love me even when he's free/ Or will he go back to the place where he'll choose the poison over me?" Ultimately, she decides that she "is willing to take the risk."

Despite a new sound and a new outlook, the album "21," like the previous, is about heartbreak. "The guy from '21,' it was actually an amazing relationship," said Adele. "It was really intense and really amazing. It just fell apart and stopped being fun."

"21" is her way of grappling with that fact. There is nothing novel about its themes or lyrics; they are simply the words of a broken heart. Yet, in their simplicity so too resides their strength. If nothing else, her songs are relatable. For, as she sings in "Someone Like You," "Sometimes it lasts in love/But sometimes it hurts instead."