Best of 2024 JADE on DIY’s Track of 2024 ‘Angel Of My Dreams’: “I think that people celebrate authenticity more than ever”

Congratulations on being voted as DIY’s Track of 2024 with ‘Angel of My Dreams’! First solo track out of the gate and you’ve absolutely smashed it!
Woo! I think I’ve peaked too soon to be honest, where do I go from here?!

It’s such a huge departure from Little Mix and also, let’s be real, it’s just quite a bonkers song anyway - did you have any nerves about how it might be received?
To be honest, I actually didn’t. I’d waited so long to release music that by the time it came out I was like, ‘D’ya know what? Just have it. I don’t care what you think’. But also because it was so chaotic and bolshy as a song, it was quite freeing. It was quite liberating to just release something into the wild where I was like, ‘Like it, don’t like it, I love it so whatevs’.

You’ve said before that people perhaps knew you the least out of the band - did that feel like a good space and a clean slate to be starting from?
It was a strength, I suppose. Obviously the hardcore fans knew what my role was in the band, and I had done a few personality bits over the years, but I liked the idea that no one knew what I was gonna come up with. A bit of underdog vibes maybe? It just excited me because, even now, I feel like I’ve got so much to show everyone about who I am as an artist.

‘Angel…’ is a good place to start as it’s about five songs in one - how does that reflect your tastes and tee up what else is coming?
I think ‘Angel of My Dreams’ was the perfect introduction to my artistry and my album. Just conceptually, I knew with the first song I wanted to tell my story and catch people up and squash it into this chaotic, three-minute song. This whole album is me finding myself, touching on my experiences in the industry and rediscovering myself - they’re two key themes across the record - and ‘Angel…’ is the springboard for that. Also, the element of surprise; I love the chaos, and that ‘Angel…’ is this musical journey of a pop song. After years of having a certain formula with the Little Mix music, with my own stuff I really wanted to just do what I wanted and not worry about what felt radio-friendly or a guaranteed hit. I just wanted to write a song that really felt incredibly me.

When you’ve written in a certain way for so long, do you have to untrain yourself from thinking like that?
Yeah I did. I’d only been writing for my own music for about a year and a half by this point, and I guess I’d been subconsciously adhering to what an ideal pop song is, or what the safe song is, and then I just thought, ‘fuck it’. It was the point where I couldn’t be arsed to write anymore - I was sick of looking for the first single, and that was the moment where ‘Angel of My Dreams’ was written, because I think I just gave up a bit! Which was a good thing, because it meant there was no longer any pressure on myself.

The track deals with industry experiences and this often toxic relationship with fame and success that you’ve spoken about - how have those relationships changed over the years?
I think there’s a lot more freedom now for artists to genuinely explore their sound. It’s hard - or it was hard - to do when you’re signed to a major label, because these big corporations have targets to meet and it is treated like a business at times. Whereas now, with streaming and so many more chances for independent artists, there’s a lot more space to experiment and that’s a really cool feeling.

I think there’s slightly less pressure now maybe as well? Back in the day when me and the girls first started, if you didn’t get in the Top Five you were in the danger zone, and having that hanging over you is really anxiety-inducing; you never know when the bubble’s gonna burst. I guess it’s not like that as much anymore which is quite nice, and as a woman gradually things are changing - maybe not quick enough, but I definitely feel a bit more respect now. But then I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve worked in the industry for so long, so now people are a bit more respectful of me and who I am? But I feel like my voice is heard more now, which is nice.

Do you think what you want out of this solo project is different to the things you were aiming for at the start of Little Mix?
I definitely think my scope of success has shifted. In the band it was very much about Number One hits and meeting targets and everything had to be huge and massive; for a long time, I was conditioned to think that was the ultimate [goal]. And in terms of the business, it is - everybody wants a big hit and you want to be a huge artist - but now with my own music I’m just happy to create music that I love, and I think people celebrate that authenticity more than ever. If people know that it’s coming from you, that reaches a wider audience than following the status quo.

We’re living in the age of Chappell Roan - it’s a good place to be!
Yes! And on that as well, we’re seeing more female artists where their work is paying off more than ever. All these artists that are blowing up this year - like Chappell and Sabrina, and Tinashe had her big viral TikTok moment, and Victoria Monet - all these artists have been working for years and years, so it’s nice to know as a woman that all the graft will pay off. I don’t think age is as much of a thing now as well, which is really lovely to know.

Here at DIY we’re all very obsessed with the JADE x Fontaines DC universe that’s been unfolding in your videos - how did that all come about?
Myself and Fontaines DC shared the same video director, Aube Perrie, who did ‘Starburster’ - he came up with this Grian multiverse where he appears in certain visuals for different people. When he pitched the idea of him being in ‘Angel of My Dreams’ I was like, ‘100% yes, I love that’. I really like that we’re worlds apart but we have a huge amount of respect for each other’s work. To be honest, Fontaines DC were the first sign to me that I was doing a good thing. This was pre-release and maybe I was a little nervous at that point, so the fact that they’d heard the first song, they knew the treatment for my video, and they were like, ‘Yes. Absolutely we want in on this project’ - that felt amazing to me, that such an incredible band rated my music and me as an artist. I’m really grateful to them for being the first artist to be on board with what I’m doing.

The video in itself was a whole mini film production with you playing lots of versions of yourself - did you have a favourite?
I think it’s every pop star’s dream to get to do multiple looks and characters in a video, and I knew across the project I wanted to create this idea of multiple versions of myself and different parts of who you can become in the industry. My favourite character was the superstar Jade - the cunty one with the big blonde hair. She’s what I think is a caricature of a pop star - like, what I envisioned when I was younger when I heard all the stories of the divas - so it was really fun playing that character. I can see why people do become horrible divas, because it’s actually quite thrilling to be horrible to everyone, but I’m not going to carry it on, obviously…

Did you go full method getting into the character then?
I did on set, to be fair. I think when I had that huge wig on and the massive fur coat I just became a cunt.

Somebody lock away the coat, it’s not safe! So as we approach the debut album, will we see these characters again? 
Those characters will carry on across the campaign in different ways; I just shot another music video last week for the next single and there’s a nod to one of the characters in that, as well as this idea of younger JADE. I want all the visuals to link and reference this idea of being in the spotlight; with ‘Fantasy’, I’m still a pop star on stage even though it’s got a retro feel, and with ‘Midnight Cowboy we had the scary paparazzis following me at night, so there’s definitely an underlying theme of showbusiness and what that means.

Can you tease us with any info about the next single?
The next single is a really heavy, in your face, big pop moment. I think it’s time for that. ‘Angel…’ was chaos; ‘Midnight Cowboy’ was understated cuntiness; ‘Fantasy’ was feel good, tongue-in-cheek sexual liberation; and the next song I always describe as like ‘Angel..’’s bratty little sister. And then the next single [after that], I thought, you know what? Let’s just give them a huge chorus, all guns blazing situation. So I’m excited to see what the response to that will be.

Give the people what they want!
Feed the kids!

Well, we are all deeply excited to see what’s next.
Honestly, it means the world. I’ve seen different publications putting me on their lists and it’s so incredible. And I know we shouldn’t seek validation - and ironically, that’s what ‘Angel of My Dreams’ is about - but when I found out that you guys were giving me the Number One spot I actually shed a tear because I can’t believe it’s happening. What a year! I’m just really proud of myself and I’m really grateful that people understand what I’m trying to do… not me getting emotional right now because I’m due on my period!

You’re very welcome. Love you JADE!

Tags: Features, Interviews, JADE