JADE’s debut single, “Angel of My Dreams,” arrived last July like a much-needed lemonade on a hot day. The genre-bending pop track — both ballad and banger — was singer Jade Thirlwall’s venture into solo artistry; her former girl group, Little Mix, had gone on hiatus two years earlier. After a handful of singles, a few music videos, and one explosive performance at the Brit Awards, the singer’s debut solo album, That’s Showbiz Baby! (exclamation hers), will be out on September 12. That gives you all summer to do your homework on what could be one of the best pop albums of the year from one of the industry’s most refreshing and original voices.
You don’t have to know that Thirlwall was a member of an X Factor–winning group to get that the song is full of petulant outrage, but the context certainly helps make a song like “Angel of My Dreams” feel that much punchier. Like One Direction, Little Mix was a supergroup made up of singers who auditioned solo, and like One Direction, they shared a somewhat tumultuous relationship with Simon Cowell. The end of her song “It Girl” might contain a subtle dig at Cowell in its reference to a common phrase of his: “It’s a ‘no’ from me.” In the “Angel of my Dreams” video, JADE splices in snippets from her X Factor audition while playing many versions of her pop-star self: an earnest street busker; a bewigged, blonde diva; and a red-haired angel, all the while playing little wife and puppet to a hulking man with a square head (who later accompanied her to the Brit Awards). The inherent humor she brought to the song — twitchy dancing, exaggerated costumes — let the song avoid any trappings of self-righteousness. “Angel of My Dreams” asks, “Isn’t it fun to be pissed off?”
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With her wings and feathered costumes, JADE has positioned herself as a pop star both new and old, a veteran of an industry and an ingenue all at once. These contradictions sit within her music, which you can dance to or cry to (or do both) on any given day. The depth of sound apparent in her singles thus far has showcased all that being a cog in the pop machine couldn’t let her do up until now. While it’d be great to have That’s Showbiz Baby! for the summer, JADE’s done us a solid by giving us a few months to brush up on her past week. Half the fun is knowing just how far she’s come.
