Adele planning a Beyoncé-style surprise album release?

Adele is planning a Beyoncé-style surprise album release, according to one national newspaper.

The singer is rumoured to have finished work on her eagerly-anticipated third album, and is said to be planning to release it via iTunes without any form of marketing campaign or promotional singles.

The report follows a cryptic tweet the singer posted last month (May), suggesting the album – rumoured to be titled 25 – would be released later in the year.

“The album is written, recorded and finished. Theoretically it could be released tomorrow if she wanted,” a so-called ‘source’ told the Daily Star. “The plan is to release internationally on iTunes as a complete surprise without any previous promotion or build-up publicity campaign.”

The ‘source’ then added: “The shock tactics worked amazingly well for Beyoncé and the feeling is Adele’s new album is so widely anticipated it doesn’t need a long promotional build-up.”

Adele released her second album 21 in 2011 and it went on to become a global phenomenon, selling over 30 million copies worldwide and spawning the smash hit singles Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You.

Beyoncé released her self-titled fifth album on iTunes in December without any warning – and the surprise release is widely considered to have been a success. Do you think Adele could pull off a similar surprise release? Let us know below.

Meanwhile, Adele turned 26 last month and to celebrate we counted down 26 times she wasn’t arsed but was still amazing.