Adele new album: Singer confirms 25 release with heartfelt Facebook letter after teasing her single

It has taken four years but Adele has finally confirmed she will be releasing a new album, titled 25. Days after teasing her new single, the Someone Like You songstress has penned a heartfelt letter to fans explaining why there has been such a long wait since the release of her last record.

In a Facebook post titled "Hello...", Adele reveals she has "spent [her] whole life so far wishing it away" and will instead focus on the future with her upcoming LP. The 27-year-old wrote: "My last record was a break-up record and if I had to label this one, I would call it a make-up record. I'm making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did."

She continued: "What's done is done. Turning 25 was a turning point for me, slap bang in the middle of my twenties. Teetering on the edge of being a fully fledged adult, I made the decision to go into becoming who I'm going to be forever without a removal van full of my old junk. I miss everything about my past, the good and the bad, but only because it won't come back."

Alluding to the album title, the Grammy-winner concluded: "25 is about getting to know who I've becoming without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened." During her lengthy time away from the spotlight, Adele has enjoyed being a first-time mother to son Angelo, who was born in October 2012.

The letter is the first time the Rolling In The Deep singer has spoken about her hiatus and new album. Fans were sent into a frenzy on 18 October after a 30-second teaser of what is believed to be Adele's new single debuted in an ad break during an episode of The X Factor. Lyrics included: "Hello, It's me/I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet/To go over everything."

A release date for 25 and the new single is yet to be announced. Rumours of Adele's comeback have been circulating for some time with one report claiming the singer will be releasing her third LP in November.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes also claim Adele is favourite to headline the Glastonbury festival in 2016. The British singer released her second album, 21, in January 2011 and it went on to become the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK with more than 4.7 million copies sold and 30 million in total worldwide.