NEW ALBUMS

Adele, “30” (Columbia):

It’s hard to believe, but the fanfare ahead of Adele’s fourth album — released worldwide Friday, Nov. 19 — might just top that of her previous three multiplatinum releases. The new record’s first single, “Easy on Me,” became the No. 1 song in the world almost as quickly as it was released. Later, the British pop star’s website crashed after she tweeted a presale link for her first concert since 2017.

In a rare interview, Adele told Hits Radio in England that the album — her first since 2015’s “25” — centers on her relationship with ex-husband Simon Konekci following their 2019 divorce, their 9-year-old son, Angelo, and “the relationship I have with myself.” To that end, both first single “Easy on Me” and “Hold On” (which debuted in an Amazon commercial) have the star in deep conversation with herself, while also showcasing her almost impossible vocal range. Her longtime producer Greg Kurstin leads a loaded stable of production talent, including Childish Gambino confidant and “The Mandalorian” composer Ludwig Göransson, Swedish superproducers Max Martin and Shellback (Taylor Swift, Britney Spears), and the rising British heavyweight Inflo (Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz).

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, “Raise the Roof ” (Rounder):

Fourteen years after the release of their album of the year Grammy winner, “Raising Sand,” Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and American bluegrass singer Alison Krauss are back at it again. Like their first foray, this record is produced by T Bone Burnett, and despite the hiatus, the three have apparently been sending songs back and forth to each other ever since. The result is stunning: a compendium of diverse re-imaginations of songs from the folk, country and Americana canon. “These are songs that have gone into our hearts way back in time, but got lost in the twists and curves of the passing years,” Plant says in the duo’s bio.

They breathe new life into interpretations of “Going Where the Lonely Go” by Merle Haggard, Bert Jansch’s “It Don’t Bother Me” and the cinematic reconstruction of the Everly Brothers’ “The Price of Love.” On the album’s lone original, the Plant and Burnettpenned “High and Lonesome,” Plant operates vocally in Zeppelin-like fashion over a blues guitar and reverbed drums, before Krauss’ bold soprano joins him in harmony in a familiar (but always welcome) equation.

David McClister Robert Plant and Alison Krauss team up again, 14 years after their Grammy album of the year.

Zach Hyman / Sesame Workshop Billie Eilish has joined the Count from “Sesame Street” for a number-oriented version of her song “Happier Than Ever.”