Music is a therapy. Whatever way you look at it, the soundtrack to our lives, like a good fragrance, it can take you back to the best of times, the worst of times.
And any woman my age (30 something!) is bound to have at least one Adele song that does that. For me it's 'Chasing Pavements' which takes me back to a time of reflection and transition, just as I was leaving the hedonistic years of my twenties, and about to meet 'the one'. Her album '19' was the soundtrack to this curious time, along with 'Make you feel my love' , they were two of the most played songs on my ipod shuffle of 2008 (ipod shuffle - do you feel old already!?)
So, I was thrilled to hear Adele was returning to the public spotlight with her much anticipated album '25' this week, now like myself - a wife and Mother.
We have grown up with Adele. Her albums are well spaced enough to allow for both herself and ourselves to grow and change during that time. Cleverly marketed by her age, it reminds us all of the transitions we go through. Simply put, Adele's albums run alongside our ever-changing lives.
Adele has gone from music graduate to Mother and wife in a very short space of time. She graduated from the uber famous BRIT school in 2006, released her first album in 2008 and became a Mum to baby Angleo in 2012. That's a quick evolution by anyone's standards.
So it's not a surprise that motherhood was a bit of a shock to Adele, who recently described it in an interview with i-D Magazine as "f*cking hard, I had no idea. It's hard, but it's phenomenal" - words I'm sure many of us would echo.
Yes parenting is exhausting, challenging, rewarding and wonderful - but I imagine those emotions are amplified when you still have a good stretch of your twenties ahead of you.
Of course it's great to be a younger Mum - to have the energy to kick a football with your child and not worry about pulling a hamstring and never feeling old at the school gates.
But that all said, I wouldn't change being an older Mum. I don't mind having to stay in on a Saturday night, because I've been there, done that, thrown up all over the t-shirt. I don't have to 'give up' or compromise too much of my life now I have a little one, because I did it all, and I did it hard in my twenties.
With Adele's new album '25' out, some critics have asked whether Adele has enough 'fodder' to fuel the heartfelt lyrics and emotion we've come to expect in her previous albums.
Charged by love, tryst, anger, heartbreak - songs such as 'Someone like you' and 'Chasing Pavements' have been her trademark thing. But of course, now all is well in happyville, can we expect the same raw emotion channeling through?
I've had a brief listen to her new track Hello and much like her previous work, has a rousing feel to it. And while it's not my favourite Adele song, it's another great addition to her impressive body of work.
I can't wait to hear the album, I wonder if there will be any songs about the challenges of breastfeeding, how you withdraw the dreamfeed, and rekindling intimacy with your partner when you're up every few hours with a screaming baby.
Hello Adele, it's good to have you back!