Adele confirms album name

Adele has confirmed her upcoming album is called 25 and apologised to fans for its delay.

The Someone Like You singer's last record, 21, hit stores in 2011, after which she took some time off from making music and had her now three-year-old son Angelo. There has been intense speculation that she is readying to release her eagerly-anticipated third record, with the star now using social media accounts Twitter and Facebook to make an official announcement.

"Turning 25 was a turning point for me, slap bang in the middle of my twenties," she wrote. "Teetering on the edge of being an old adolescent and 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. When I was in it I wanted out! So typical.

"25 is about getting to know who I've become without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened... Love, Adele."

The news comes after a mysterious commercial was aired in the UK on Sunday (18Oct15) which appeared to allude to the singer's new release. It featured no information other than a brief audio and some lyrics, which read: "Hello/ It's me/ I was wondering if, after all these years, you'd like to meet to go over everything/ They say that time's supposed to heal you, but I ain't done much healing."

Adele is renowned for penning songs about heartbreak, but this time around things are going to be a little different. While she classifies 21 as a "break-up record" her new offering is a complete departure, which is in keeping with her new mindset. In her lengthy missive the star speaks about spending so much time wishing her life away - obsessing about things from the past and things she'd like to change. Now she is focused on the future and having the best life possible.

"If I had to label this one I would call it a make-up record," she wrote. "I'm making up with myself. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. But I haven't got time to hold on to the crumbs of my past like I used to. What's done is done."

A release date for 25 has not been confirmed.