My Little Love

"My Little Love" is a song by 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 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.

"My Little Love"
Song by Adele
from the album 30
Released19 November 2021
Genre
Length6:29
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Greg Kurstin
Lyric video
"My Little Love" on YouTube

Music critics compared the production of "My Little Love" to the work of Marvin Gaye, among other artists. They complimented it as one of the most emotional songs on 30 and what they deemed an emotional progression for Adele. Critics also highlighted the inclusion of the voice notes, praising the songwriting and lyricism. The song reached the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden and entered the top 40 in some other countries.

Background
Adele in a black sweatshirt, smiling
Adele in 2021

Adele began working on her fourth studio album by 2018.[1] She filed for divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki, in September 2019,[2] which inspired the album. After experiencing anxiety, Adele undertook therapy sessions and mended her estranged relationship with her father.[3] The years following the divorce plagued her, especially due to the effect it had on her son. Adele decided to have regular conversations with him, which she recorded following advice from her therapist.[3][4] These inspired her 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 released "Easy on Me" as the lead single from the album, entitled 30, on 14 October 2021.[5]

Adele co-wrote "My Little Love" with its producer, Greg Kurstin, who had produced three songs for her third studio album, 25 (2015) – "Hello", "Million Years Ago", and "Water Under the Bridge".[6][7] During one of Adele's conversations with her nine-year-old 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.[3][lower-alpha 1] Listening to the song would calm her anxiety about whether she answered her son's questions appropriately.[12]

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."[13] She recalled that creating the song cleared up some of the chaos that was obstructing her ability to express her feelings.[14] Adele announced 30's tracklist on 1 November 2021, which included "My Little Love" as the third track.[15] The song became available for digital download on the album, which was released on 19 November.[16]

Composition

"My Little Love" is six minutes and 29 seconds long.[16] Kurstin produced the song and engineered it with Julian Burg at No Expectations Studios in Los Angeles. Kurstin plays bass, mellotron, piano, and steel guitar; Chris Dave plays drums and percussion; and David Campbell arranged and conducted the strings, which were recorded at the EastWood Scoring Stage in California. Tom Elmhirst mixed the song at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.[6]

"My Little Love" is a jazz,[17][18] R&B,[17][19] and soul[20] song which incorporates voice notes of Adele's conversations with her son.[21] It is influenced by gospel music and 1970s soul.[22][23] The song employs an arpeggiated late-night bar piano chord progression and a lightly oscillating funk bassline.[19][24] According to Variety's Chris Willman, it has a groove that begins with a restrained electric piano and concludes in "swirls of orchestration".[25] Adele delivers vocals in a low register, which Annabel Nugent of The Independent described as "smoke pluming from a lit cigarette perched on an ashtray".[26] Multiple critics likened "My Little Love" to the work of Marvin Gaye;[lower-alpha 2] Vogue's Abby Aguirre highlighted its elements—"sexy '70s groove, heavy strings, heavier lyrics",[3] 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".[27] 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".[29][20]

The lyrics of "My Little Love" are written from the perspective of a mother pleading for understanding and forgiveness from her child.[30] Adele discusses her divorce and admits her guilt about the way it has changed her son's life,[31] addressing herself as "mama"[32] and him as "my little love".[33] The voice notes from her son include him asking several questions.[30] 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.[17][34] 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.[33][35] 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."[17][36]

Critical reception

Critics complimented "My Little Love" as one of the most emotional songs on 30[lower-alpha 3] and what they deemed an emotional progression for Adele.[lower-alpha 4] Yahoo! Entertainment's Lyndsey Parker believed it was indisputably the album's "hardest gut-punch".[17] Iris Goldsztain of Marie Claire described it as astonishingly moving,[40] and Chelsey Sanchez of Harper's Bazaar believed she reached new levels of vulnerability on it.[37] Ranking it 11th among the album tracks, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard stated that "My Little Love" featured Adele's most intrepid song construction ever.[41] Writing for Exclaim!, Kyle Mullin cited the song as an example of her thematic evolution over her releases during the preceding decade.[38] Entertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi wrote that Adele delves even further into her trademark musical heartbreak on it.[33] David Cobbald of The Line of Best Fit thought "My Little Love" was one of "two moments on the album where creativity and Adele's talent truly shine" and provides an immensely unguarded peek into Adele's mind.[42] Writing for Slant Magazine, Eric Mason thought Adele's affirming her adulation to her son brought fourth a more honest sense of sadness than her previous heartbreak-themed songs.[39]

The inclusion of the voice notes on "My Little Love" received critical commentary. Consequence's Ilana Kaplan believed they provided perspective about Adele's state of mind but did not form an imperative addition to 30.[22] Wood thought they were "maybe a bit much".[20] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick agreed they may constitute oversharing: "The weepy voice notes may be a bit too much. Honestly, I question 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".[28] Pitchfork's Jill Mapes believed the closing voicemail was "Adele's version of rock bottom", on which she confessed "for the first time in years, she feels really and truly lonely. It is hard to hear her like this".[43] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described it as "bold no-holds barred wound-showing" akin to John Lennon's song "Mother" (1970), which formed a "profoundly uncomfortable listening" experience.[44] Yeung wrote that it was startling to listen to Adele in this vulnerable a human state, but it is peculiarly comforting to spectate these levels of susceptibility and frankness from her.[29] DIY's Emma Swann described it as a "gut-wrenching climax".[45]

Some praised the lyrics. The A.V. Club's 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."[32] Robin Murray of Clash believed it would be difficult to "name a more naked, honest piece of songwriting" that could become as popular as "My Little Love" in 2021.[46] PopMatters's Peter Piatkowski described the lyrics as "so raw and naked that it's uncomfortable to continue with it, and the discomfort grows as the emotional baggage depicted in the lyrics threaten to collapse whatever dam is holding Adele in".[23] Rolling Stone placed the song at number 24 in a 2021 ranking of Adele's discography.[24]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "My Little Love" debuted at number five on the Official Audio Streaming Chart.[47] The song charted at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[48] It peaked at number 14 on the Canadian Hot 100.[49] In Australia, "My Little Love" reached number 11.[50] The song charted at number 10 in New Zealand.[51] On the Billboard Global 200, it peaked at number 12.[52] "My Little Love" reached national record charts, at number 5 in Iceland,[53] number 14 in the Netherlands,[54] number 16 in Sweden,[55] number 33 in Portugal,[56] number 35 in Norway,[57] number 37 in Denmark,[58] and number 66 in France.[59] The song received a Gold certification in Brazil.[60]

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of 30.[6]

Charts
Chart positions for "My Little Love"
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[50] 11
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[49] 14
Denmark (Tracklisten)[58] 37
France (SNEP)[59] 66
Global 200 (Billboard)[52] 12
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[53] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[54] 14
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[51] 10
Norway (VG-lista)[57] 35
Portugal (AFP)[56] 33
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[55] 16
UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[47] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[48] 23

Certification
Certification for "My Little Love"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[60] Gold 20,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes
  1. Adele had previously kept her son away from the limelight.[8] She sued the photo agency Corbis Images UK, after they published paparazzi photos of him taken in 2013, and won.[9][10][11]
  2. Cited to Vogue,[3] NPR,[27] The Daily Telegraph,[28] and The New York Times[21]
  3. Cited to Yahoo! Entertainment[17] and Harper's Bazaar[14]
  4. Cited to Harper's Bazaar,[37] Exclaim!,[38] Entertainment Weekly,[33] and Slant Magazine[39]

References
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