"Easy on Me" is a song by the English singer Adele from her fourth studio album, 30 (2021). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on 15 October 2021. It is a torch song and ballad which places emphasis on Adele's vocals, set over progressively louder-growing piano instrumentation. In its lyrics, she addresses her divorce and pleads for forgiveness and understanding from her son, ex-husband, and herself.
"Easy on Me" received acclaim from music critics, who discussed it in relation to Adele's previous music and praised her vocals and the lyrics. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, the song won Best Pop Solo Performance from its four nominations. It was nominated for several other awards and won the 2022 Brit Award for Song of the Year. "Easy on Me" reached number one on the charts in 30 territories, including becoming Adele's longest-running chart topper in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was the sixth-bestselling song of 2022 in the world and was certified multiplatinum in 15 countries, including Diamond in Brazil and France.
Xavier Dolan directed the music video for "Easy on Me", which was released on 15 October 2021. It references several previous Adele videos and depicts her moving out of the same house where the "Hello" (2015) music video was filmed. She performed the song at the 23rd NRJ Music Awards, on her television specials, and at the concert residency Weekends with Adele. Artists including Kanye West and the Sunday Service Choir, Chloe Bailey, and Keith Urban sang cover versions of it.
Background
Greg Kurstin produced and co-wrote three tracks on Adele's third studio album, 25 (2015), which included the song "Hello". It was released as the lead single from the album and reached number one in 36 countries, and its music video broke the Vevo record for most single-day views. She kept a low profile after completing the associated concert tour, Adele Live 2016, in 2017. Adele had begun working on the follow-up album by the following year. She filed for divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki, in September 2019, which inspired the album. After experiencing anxiety, Adele undertook therapy sessions and mended her estranged relationship with her father. The divorce's effect on her son plagued Adele during the following years. She decided to have regular conversations with him, which she recorded following advice from her therapist. These conversations 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.
Adele wrote "Easy on Me" with its producer, Kurstin. She conceived the song's verses while taking a shower. Adele's friends would tell her to "go easy on yourself, don't beat yourself up too much about your decisions". The advice resonated with her, and she decided that she had to be more gentle with herself. Adele's friends were unimpressed by an initial snippet of it but she claimed that they appreciated her patience. Three songs were in contention for release as the lead single from 30 (2021). She eventually chose "Easy on Me" because it had a "soaring chorus" and "just felt like a me song"; she saw it as the right song for her return after the hiatus. Adele wanted to avoid releasing something that would propel her to more stardom: "There isn't a bombastic 'Hello,' But I don't want another song like that. That song catapulted me in fame to another level that I don't want to happen again."
Composition and lyrics "Easy on Me" is 3 minutes and 44 seconds long. Kurstin produced the song and engineered it with Alex Pasco and Julian Burg. Kurstin plays bass guitar, kick drum, and piano. Tom Elmhirst helmed the song's mixing at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and Randy Merrill handled mastering at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.
"Easy on Me" is a torch song and ballad which places emphasis on Adele's vocals over piano instrumentation. The song opens with a gentle piano, which intensifies as it progresses, leading into the vocals. Adele's voice mimics this according to The Guardians Alexis Petridis, as it "sounds initially wounded, then soars". The song almost completely eschews the use of percussion instruments, but a bass drum and bass guitar are played during its latter half. In the chorus, Adele delivers the song title in elongated vocal runs and stretches the "e" sound through eight different musical notes. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times described her performance as "soaring yet slightly crinkly around the edges".
In the lyrics, Adele addresses her divorce and asks for forgiveness and understanding from her son, ex-husband, and herself. She tries to explain to her son why she chose to disassemble the stable life he had during her marriage. Adele acknowledges that she still has a lot of self-discovery to do and compares herself to a child: "I was still a child / Didn't get the chance to / Feel the world around me." According to Slant Magazines Alexa Camp, the lyric reflects her "grappling with a form of arrested development". In the song's bridge, Adele asserts that the divorce was well-intentioned and in the hopes of a better future. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described the song as "effectively, a huge, abject, shame- and excuse-filled apology".
Release
On 1 October 2021, the number "30" was projected on several buildings and landmarks around the world. Three days later, Adele updated her social media accounts for the first time in months. On 5 October, Adele hinted at the song and its music video by posting a teaser on the accounts. The black-and-white clip played an instrumental track and depicted Adele putting a cassette into the tape deck of a truck. On 9 October, Adele shared a 40-second preview of it via Instagram Live. "Easy on Me" was released on 15 October and marked her first single in nearly five years. Sony Music sent it for radio airplay in Italy the same day.
In the United States, Columbia Records released "Easy on Me" to adult contemporary and triple A stations on 18 October, and contemporary hit radio the following day. The song was issued as a CD single in Germany on 22 October. Columbia released a cassette single on 5 November 2021. Adele recorded a duet version of it with Chris Stapleton, which was sent to country radio by In2une Nashville on 19 November. With 5.4million audience impressions, this version became Adele's first entry on the Country Airplay chart at number 25. Billboards Gary Trust wrote that it made "unprecedented airplay chart history". In October 2021, Ocado noted a 26 percent increase in tissue sales in the United Kingdom and connected this to the release of "Easy on Me", along with the cool weather: "We also suspect Adele's new song about heartbreak may have also had something to do with it."
Critical reception
"Easy on Me" received critical acclaim from music critics. Some commented on the production. McCormick thought the song was a daring return for Adele and exemplified the sheer crux of "what music is, and why it means so much to us". Fiona Sturges of i believed it is wholehearted, anthemic, and places emphasis on Adele's voice, but it has a "slightly over-produced sheen" which reduces its sadness. Likewise, The Times Will Hodgkinson thought "Easy on Me" was fine and seasoned but "a sheen of thoroughly American professionalism" prevented its emotional resonance.
Critics discussed "Easy on Me" in relation to Adele's catalogue. Some thought it was a typical Adele song. The Evening Standards Jochan Embley believed it did not compare to the sadness of "Someone Like You" (2011) or the emotion of "Hello" but was equally ardent. Alexandra Pollard of The Independent thought it did not have a catchy melody like "Hello" but was just as sad and pithy and more intricate. Petridis stated that it would not "stop the listener in their tracks" like "Someone Like You" but was relatable and more memorable than some tracks on 25. Billboards Jason Lipshutz likened several elements of "Easy on Me" to prior Adele songs but thought it was distinguished by its different lyrical theme.
Adele's vocals were the subject of commentary. Embley believed they were some of her best: "She's so elegantly controlled, so piercingly poignant". NMEs Nick Levine thought the song delivered to the high expectations due to her prowess in communicating unvarnished emotion through her vocals and lyricism. He added that Adele sounds undoubtedly and magnificently like herself but "richer and more confident". Cat Zhang of Pitchfork praised her delivery and said it is distinctive at a time when under-singing is popular. She added that despite dealing with a new breakup, Adele provides the same contentment. Writing for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield thought she sang with more panache and delicacy but did not eschew "the primal firepower" that famed her. PopMatterss Peter Piatkowski stated that with her usual pristine performance, she exudes the immense sorrow she experiences and molds her great and pliable voice.
Some discussed the lyrics. Chris Willman of Variety believed that the theme of asking for forgiveness strayed from Adele's previous releases, portraying her as "the possible offendee, not the offended". Writing for The Line of Best Fit, David Cobbald thought it was "the most 'hunny song on 30. He noted its metaphors about water and opined it conveys a maturity and headway from the time of 25. Piatkowski believed that the lyrics were foreseeably intense and portrayed "genuine and elegiac" pain. Levine opined the lyrics will relate with "anyone going through a quarter-life crisis, a mid-life crisis, or just a crisis of a hangover" and were likely to make them cry easily.
Accolades "Easy on Me" has been included in rankings of Adele's discography. Rolling Stone named it her 10th-best song in 2021. Far Outs Tyler Golsen and Jamie Kahn included it at number 17 in 2022. That same year, American Songwriters Tina Benitez-Eves declared "Easy on Me" Adele's best song. It was included on critical lists of the best songs of 2021, by Billboard at number 14, The Forty-Five and NME at number 26, and Consequence at number 27. The song also appeared in an unranked list by Vogue.
"Easy on Me" received several awards and nominations. It won the Brit Award for Song of the Year at the 2022 ceremony. That year, "Easy on Me" also received the Gaffa Award for Foreign Song of the Year, the Juno Award for Video of the Year, and the New Music Award for Top 40/CHR Song of the Year. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023, the song won Best Pop Solo Performance and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Music Video. Other nominations include The Song of 2021 and The Music Video of 2021 at the 47th People's Choice Awards, Favourite Pop Song and Favourite Music Video at the American Music Awards of 2022, Song of the Year and Best Lyrics at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards, the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and the MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year.
Commercial performance