British singer Adele is back with her first single in nearly four years.
The song, “Hello,” debuted Friday, and its music video has already been viewed roughly 18 million times on YouTube. Adele also announced that her long-awaited third studio album, 25, would be released on November 20.
In addition to the eye-popping viewership, the singer’s new music video made history by becoming the first music video to be shot partially using IMAX cameras. According to Entertainment Weekly, Canadian director Xavier Dolan met Adele last summer and got to hear the new song before almost anybody else.
“It was a privilege to direct the music video for Adele’s beautiful, heartbreaking song ‘Hello,’” the director said in a statement. “When I first heard it, all the images appeared clearly in my head – and her trust and generosity allowed me to work with abandon artistically and emotionally, like she always does. It made me extremely proud.”
The video features Adele deconstructing a failed relationship with an ex-boyfriend, played by The Wire actor Tristan Wilds.
In a post to her social media accounts on Friday, Adele said that, while her Grammy-winning 2011 album 21 was a “break-up record,” 25 is a “make-up record.”
“25 is about getting to know who I’ve become without realising,” the singer wrote. “And I’m sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened.”
Check out the video for “Hello” above.