From Little Mix's reign to her own empire: Jade releases her debut solo album and gives in to pop excess

It's 2025 and we're accumulating pop stars like trading cards. And what a collection. Sabrina Carpenter flaunts her seventies look and daring songs that cross the line of indecency, Chappell Roan flaunts her experimental sound beneath her drag aesthetic, and Charli XCX tinges the air with hyperpop and club music. The latest addition to this assortment of brilliant pop is Jade, one-third of Little Mix , the British girl band that took off on the X Factor in 2011 and immediately won over millions of fans. Four years after the group announced a hiatus, Jade Thirlwall is venturing into the music scene on her own with her first solo album: That's showbiz, baby!

For her, the show is an amalgam of sparkle, fun, excess, and theatricality. In 14 tracks, the British singer weaves together a sound with a lustrous, "very commercial" texture. Because yes, we are in the era of pop, and Thirlwall embraces it with her philosophy: "more is more. " Her first release "is dramatic, has a theatrical element, and, above all, is incredibly catchy," explains the vocalist from London via video call.

The textbook pop star revels in excess, and she's no exception: "I came in feeling rough with my first project...it's brazen, but I love it," she says of the excess that oozes from every track on the album. Jade loves glamour, but the line between pleasure and exhaustion is very thin. Jade knows this, and her first single, "Angel of My Dreams," exposes her love-hate relationship with the industry that gave her birth as a star. "The key is to embrace it and understand its rules," she says. After a decade of success, Thirlwall is unsure how the game works.

Understanding it, she says, is "the first step to enjoying it without letting it consume you." She admits it openly: she's a showbiz junkie. "My way of dealing with it is being honest. I laugh at my trauma in a dark but intelligent way. Angel of My Dreams is innately tragic. In it, I say that I will always be passionate about being a part of this, even if it destroys me mentally at times."

Hitting the big stages as a solo artist is a completely different feat than performing in a group. The change, at first, "was terrifying," she confesses. She recalls her debut at Radio 1's Big Weekend : "I was incredibly nervous, but as soon as I got on stage, I realized I could do it alone." This initial taste of excitement was enough for her to take her over-the-top shows to nearly a dozen festivals throughout the summer. From Glastonbury in Somerset to Pukkelpop in the Belgian city of Hasselt, the artist is bringing showbiz to the stage wherever she goes. Reinventing herself after 11 years sharing the stage with her bandmates has been a challenge.

Thirlwall experienced fame at just 18, when Little Mix swept the British version of the X Factor. Today, at 32, the member struggles to exist without her bandmates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne, and Jesy Nelson (who left the group in 2020). "I lived my entire adult life with them. It felt like a breakup, even though we're still friends." Little Mix made their way to success to become one of the most influential girl bands in British pop.

More than 60 awards —including three Brit Awards and a Billboard Women in Music Award—millions of albums sold, world tours, and generational anthems like Shout Out to My Ex and Sweet Melody cemented their fame and influence on the pop scene. But the hiatus was inevitable. According to the singer, the decision came with the certainty that "the group reached the peak of everything they could do together." Jade speaks about "her girls," convinced that their separation is temporary: "We'll get back together when the time is right. Little Mix is ​​a security blanket that we know will be there."