Jade Thirlwall — or as you may simply know her: JADE — is back home in London having just done a round of press in New York City, alongside PAPER’s photoshoot and a pop-up appearance at Brooklyn’s iconic 3 Dollar Bill. Of course, that’s not to mention the multiple music videos she’s planning and shooting or the album she’s undoubtedly wrapping in a seasonally appropriate ribbon.

JADE is busy. But the internet-eclipsing success of her solo debut “Angel of My Dreams” comes after a period of calm and isolation. It’s a little over two years since Little Mix, the girl group she once belonged to, announced an indefinite hiatus. In the time since, JADE has travelled the world, vacationed with friends and maybe most importantly, been to therapy. “It was the best, and the highs and lows, all of it, was such a pivotal and important part of my life,” JADE tells PAPER. “So I needed to take a step back from it to come to terms with that and grieve it a little bit. It was my whole life, so to come out of that was scary.” As to what she learned in that time away: “I love my work. I pour everything into it. So I came out of [therapy] like, ‘Oh, I can have a loving relationship as well as do music. I can have a better balance with that sort of stuff.’”

She also believes her brief departure from the glamour of a pop career is the foundation for her breakthrough success as a solo act. “People didn’t know about me, or what I was capable of, or where I am on my own, what kind of creative vision I see for myself,” she says. “I came out swinging with ‘Angel of My Dreams,’ and people accepted it willingly. I think I needed two years to get to that point.”

Granted, her music has led some listeners to glance backward. “Angel” is about experiences JADE has had in the music industry, she says. Lyrics like “Sellin’ my soul to a psycho/ They say I’m so lucky/ Better act like you’re lucky, honey” have led fans to draw obvious conclusions or even conspiracy theories. A particular figure in the music video, comically large and imposing, has inspired enough videos on TikTok to fill an afternoon, with some pinning red string on a corkboard between words like “psycho” and “SYCO,” Little Mix’s former label.

Lady Gaga comes up more than once in conversation with JADE, herself having built an intricate pop fantasy world conveyed primarily through lyrics and visuals. “I think of Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, I think of the girls that do a video, and it’s a whole movie,” JADE says. “In my mind, the budget never exists. It definitely does, but in my head, there’s always a way of making it work, and part of that is obviously getting creatives involved, directors involved, that feel so passionate about it.”

One of those directors is David LaChapelle, who personally approached JADE about the video for her third solo single, “Fantasy.” Besides having shot just about every diva in the industry — “‘Everytime’ with Britney, and ‘Dirty,’ he’s done the damn thing!” — JADE emphasizes LaChapelle’s hands-on approach. “I went to his studio, and he was blasting ‘Angel,’ and he had a moodboard of me, pictures of me throughout the years,” she says. “He is obviously one of the greatest, and once he is on board with what you’re trying to do as an artist, he’ll ride or die for it.” She laughs, and recounts a particularly memorable moment: “He called me into a room, because he wanted to check my outfit. And I’m standing, literally, on this pedestal. There’s, a room of gays around me, trans people, all members of the community, picking me apart. I was like, ‘This is heaven!’” She laughs. “David LaChapelle is telling me about myself, my gay stylist is tweaking things, a trans seamstress is sewing as we speak, I’ve made it. I’ve truly, truly made it!”

Of all the celeb anecdotes I’ve been told this year, this is maybe the best. Pop music, but especially JADE, can still surprise even a grizzly cynic.

It has been a little over two years now since Little Mix announced the hiatus, and you took some time away. You’ve said you went on some vacations, traveled and spent time writing. What did you learn about yourself, being away from the machine and the noise of a massive pop career?

I learned that I am so much better than I thought I was at what I do. It took me taking a step back from it to look back over the Little Mix journey and be like, The fuck, that was insane. It was the best, and the highs and lows, all of it, was such a pivotal and important part of my life. So I needed to take a step back to come to terms with that and grieve it a little bit. It was my whole life, so to come out of that was scary. I needed the time to have some therapy, do some work on myself, understand and have better relationships and boundaries outside of work, because I’m a Capricorn. I love my work. I pour everything into it. So I came out of that, and I was like, Oh, I can have a loving relationship as well as do music. I can have a better balance with that sort of stuff. I just believe in myself a bit more. Change is good and being challenged is good. It pushed me into starting again creatively, going in writing rooms and being like, No, you’re a great songwriter. Sometimes I maybe would shrink, or I would rely on other people in the room. And so I had to push myself to know that I’m good enough on my own to do all those things. And the minute my creative vision started coming to life, I was like, Oh shit. Jade, you’re pretty good at this. You deserve to be having your moment.

I’ve always thrived on that idea of being the underdog. I think people didn’t know what to expect. People didn’t know about me, or what I was capable of, or where I am on my own, what kind of creative vision I see for myself. So that’s only an advantage, really. I came out swinging with “Angel of My Dreams” and people accepted it willingly. I needed two years to get to that point.

It has been exciting to see someone starting their solo career, and really come out so strong. What did you do to find that sound that you’ve landed on? Did you go back to certain inspirations, spend a lot of time writing?

A lot of writing, and to be fair, there’s so many people that were part of the process. People like MNEK, who is a dear friend of mine. He was the first writer/producer to take me under his wing and be like, Let’s just get in the studio. Let’s write so much music. Some of it will be great, some of it will be mediocre. It’s fine. We’re just going to write and find out who you are. I’m really, really grateful to him for that, because it takes people like that around you who are genuinely passionate about you as an artist and believe in you too. So that was a pivotal part of my journey, being with him for months on end.

Surrounding myself with people that didn’t feel restricted by what a song length needs to be, or, How do we make this a TikTok viral song? How do we make this radio friendly? I’ve done a lot of sessions like that, and yes, you need those at times, but working with people like Mike Sabath or Pablo Bowman, when you’re in the room with them, they don’t care. They just want to write great music. You can change the tempo, you can change the genres. That’s what really makes me tick, being with creatives and collaborating with people that are willing to throw the rubric out the window a bit. Particularly for the first song. That was super important, because I have quite a chaotic, creative brain. I challenge my mind, or I like mixing things together, like Frankenstein. I’m hugely inspired by producers like Xenomania, who did a lot of Girls Aloud…

One of the greatest to ever do it.

Exactly. And I actually think UK girl bands are really great at setting the tone of doing something new. When Sugababes first came out with “Overload,” or Girls Aloud with “Sound of the Underground.” We are good at that, even Little Mix with “Wings.” I’m inspired by that. I knew I wanted to do that for my solo work and I am just a pop fan. I think it is quite evident with the visuals and music.

I love showing other Americans “Biology” by Girls Aloud and being like, “You’re never gonna hear another song like this.” Literally ever. Just like, let it wash over you. It’s six different songs and it’s amazing.

It’s an album squashed into one pop song.

UK pop girls especially, and just the industry at large, is having this moment where the rule book, so to speak, is being thrown out. You’re showing that these unconventional songs can find success. Where do you feel like that is coming from for you specifically?

I just want to do what I want. I’ve spent so many years in the industry, and I feel like I’ve been through a lot of phases in the music industry. When we first started, it was the X Factor era, and it was very strict with time codes for a song. There was a definite structure for a pop song, you churn out the same sort of stuff. And that’s not to say that what we did wasn’t brilliant, because I obviously loved it, but it’s been interesting for me, seeing the gradual change, and what’s popping off, what isn’t. Now is a really exciting time in music, because anything goes. Especially for women in music, it’s not as restricting. You don’t have to follow a certain checklist to make it.

Looking back at that time in Little Mix to where you are now, do you feel surprised at all that you ended up here as a solo artist? Did you always see yourself staying in the group?

I fucking love girl bands. There’s not many of them. It’s hard to make it as a girl band. And I was with the fans in that. I definitely struggled the most with the idea of change. I knew it was going to come. I knew it was inevitable, and I knew I’d be excited for my own music, but I definitely had to grieve that part of my life, maybe the longest. That being said, I was so excited to show everyone what I could do on my own, especially toward the end. We were all itching a bit. Like, we love each other, but people still don’t know so much about us as individuals. And there definitely comes a time that has to happen. And the fact we lasted for that long as well as a girl group is crazy.

I’m curious too, because you’ve talked about feeling like an underdog in the group, or feeling like people didn’t know as much about you as the other members. Was that by design on your part, was it accidental, was the media not paying attention?

It’s a combination of things. Obviously some of the girls were in high-profile relationships, or a couple of the girls put out documentaries, so that gave people insight into what they were feeling. It wasn’t that on purpose, but I definitely loved the collaboration of it all. I’m quite a good team player, I would say. And a lot of the stuff that I thrived in was behind the scenes, whether that was songwriting or the business side. If we’d get a scary business email, it would be forwarded on to me to have to break down. I loved coming up with ideas for videos. It maybe wasn’t so much at the forefront publicly. But as the years went on, it became known that I was a bit of a nerd, or loved a night out, would always pipe up about social issues. I’m not afraid to speak out on things I feel passionate about. My identity became more known, or I’d be the one that wouldn’t take myself too seriously. I liked the idea of being the most mysterious, like, What’s she going to do?

Do you feel like the fan base has evolved with each of your solo careers? You’ve obviously acquired so many listeners that maybe weren’t necessarily Little Mix fans, but those core listeners. Do you feel like they’re excited for what you’re doing as solo artists?

I think so. You do see a lot of comments and interactions. It gets hard to not see that. We’ve got our core fans that support all of us. And you know, it’s inevitable some fans might have a favorite. But what I’ve really loved with my own music is seeing a lot of people being like, Oh my God, this Jade’s really cool. She’s gonna blow up. Who’s Jade? Tell me about her. That’s amazing, because that means it’s reaching new people that maybe wouldn’t have necessarily been into Little Mix. Or my own stuff is individual enough that people are knowing me as that now, which is really cool.

You were on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and you’ve always been very outspoken about your relationship to the queer community, to drag. Where do you think that relationship comes from? Because that does also feel important in this relationship you’ve built with fans, and also the sort of people that feel really excited about this new music.

It does kind of go hand in hand. I feel like it’s organically happened through the years, but ever since a young age, really, I’ve always been in touch with the community, whether that is the environments I was in with music, or musical theater. I saw a lot of drag culture early on, and Mom would always take me to drag shows. So whilst I probably couldn’t have put two and two together, or connected the dots from an early age, I definitely was enthralled by that sort of culture.

It was very surface-level stuff, even at the beginning of the band, to be honest, like I definitely didn’t know how to be a good ally or be better than just sort of basic bitch level. I’ve had to teach myself over the years. We obviously had a huge gay fan base and a huge LGBTQ+ fan base. So I just knew I had to do a bit more. Like I met up with Stonewall, and they literally gave me a history lesson. I still am learning how to be better, when to speak with someone and acknowledge if I fuck up sometimes. It’s ever-changing, but I’m very much aware that I do have a huge fan base from that community, so it’s the least I can do, really, to pipe up and speak up when it’s necessary.

There’s quite a few looks you’ve pulled off that are like drag, at least in their proportions. Or drag in the way Chappell Roan describes her persona. If I can make this assumption, it feels like you’ve been in turn inspired by this community with these characters and fashion moments that you’re having. Do you feel that for yourself?

Even from a sort of alter ego perspective, when I look at drag, I think that’s why, even as a little girl, I was so obsessed. I was really shy and very introverted, and then I’d see these glamorous divas on stage and be like, How do I be like that? How do I channel that, so that I can get onstage and feel safe? So I really relate to drag culture in that respect. On a more creative level, on the “Angel of My Dreams” visual moodboard, there was like, Bimini on there. I do take a lot of inspiration from that, and I would never shy away from saying that. Chappell, you’re right, has literally a persona, whereas I feel like I channel it in my own way. But I think we’re all inspired by drag. People don’t even realize how inspired they are by drag.

It’s cool too, because obviously, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and that first season in particular, went on to become so iconic. You were one of the first judges on the first season, one that people now look back on as the best of the best.

I love that. I was there at the beginning, do you know what I mean? Love that for me, and I am so proud of Drag Race UK, because it’s one of the best ones, because there’s so much heart in that show. Are you watching the new season? Me and my best friend, we watch it every week, and we were sobbing at La Voix.

Getting emotional thinking about it!

It was like, goosebumps! And I think that is the beauty of the show, and that’s what I mean by it being commercialized. I know people will say, “Oh, it’s not ours anymore”, but I do think it is cool that someone might watch that on TV, like a parent, and be like, “Oh shit, that’s a really loving parent, and they’re doing it right. I could learn something from that.”

“Angel of My Dreams” felt like watching Lady Gaga music videos during the Fame Monster era. It felt like something that people are not doing right now. Do you find yourself inspired by Lady Gaga?

With “Angel,” Aube Perrie, who directed it, was so obsessed with the song, and he knew I wanted to tell this story. I wanted it to be a narrative video with so many references to pop culture over the years and a fashion perspective. We’ve got Mariah in there, we’ve got Daphne, we have got a bit of “Bad Romance” with the dance sequence. For me, that was the perfect introduction to show everyone that I am a student of pop. I love a moodboard, and I am going to show you all the things that have made me who I am today in a four-minute music video. There’s a lot going on, it’s very chaotic, but I wanted it to feel like you have been stuffed in the face with pop references.

I remember you saying in another interview there’s a reference to Mariah on MTV’s Cribs, a Victoria Beckham Instagram post. Are you someone who, when growing up, or even being in the industry, has really kept up with and consumed pop culture, TV, variety shows, reality TV?

Growing up, I’d watch all those shows. Every week, me and my friends will sit around the TV and we’ll watch music videos, or we’ll watch compilations of The Real Housewives of New York. We subsume ourselves in pop culture moments. I follow various accounts online that show me that. I just live for it. I think it’s even harder these days, like we do say that now and again, but we’re so blessed that we came from an era where it was still fresh and new. Do you know what I mean? How lucky were we. I think I saw an interview recently of Tate McRae. She was asked about Britney or something. She’s like, well, you know, I grew up with Selena and Ariana. I was like, that’s amazing, obviously we love those artists. But I can’t imagine not growing up with The Simple Life.

I was so obsessed with variety shows. I’m not even from the UK or Europe, and I would watch Eurotrash rips on YouTube in middle school and high school, because I needed to know what’s going on over there.

Like, the dawn of YouTube and Twitter. All those places where we got to see memes. I don’t care if it makes me sound old, but it’s a huge influence with all my work, especially visuals. I feel blessed to be in my 30s, embarking on a solo career now, where I can show everyone that.

It’s clear you have a library of references, and you mentioned Real Housewives. I’m curious, is New York your favorite? Are you a contemporary viewer?

I do love Lisa Vanderpump, so maybe Beverly Hills might be up there as the favorite. The compilations, they’re so messy when they have dinner parties. I don’t have time to watch all the seasons anymore, so I will just watch the best bits. That’s all I need to see, to be honest.

David LaChapelle did the new video for “Fantasy.” I’ve interviewed a few people this year that David has worked with, and they all describe him as an auteur on set, that you get an experience working with him that you don’t get with anyone else. Do you feel the same?

I am still shocked that I got to work with David, he’s always the moodboard. When I was with my creative director two years ago, we had all his books laid out in front of us, and we were like, This is amazing. So to have him reach out to me and love the music and want to be a part of it was like, pinch me.

Even still now, he’ll message me weekly, like he’s seen something online that he loved, and I think that’s incredible. He’s been so supportive of me, and if we’re brutally honest: Did he have to do that video for me? No, he did it because he wants to, and he loves it, so I’m eternally grateful for that. We bonded over our mutual love for the old school divas, like Diana Ross. That was kind of where it began, and that is where the references came from for the video. With David, you’re going to get that beauty moment, you’re going to get the most perfect lighting I’ve ever seen. I remember him saying to me, “You’re going to get Drag Race lighting, do not worry.”

Just like, complete glamour, blown out, sparking from every bit.

He’s gonna make it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. We were adamant that we wanted a Carrie moment, or turn it on its head, shock people again. I’ve always craved that surprise moment in my visuals, so that’s where that came from. We had one take to do it, and David’s so funny on set. He just walks in and commands the room. He doesn’t even need to say anything. There’s so much respect there for him. He works with the same people and crew he’s worked with for years and years. That speaks volumes for the type of person he is. He’s got so many amazing stories from over the years.

I’m sure he’s got too many good ones, since he’s shot all the divas, so to speak.

He’s done, like, “Everytime” with Britney, and “Dirrty.” He’s done the damn thing. There was one moment where he called me into a room, because he wanted to check my outfit. And I’m standing, literally, on this pedestal. There’s like, a room of gays around me, trans people, all members of the community, picking me apart. I was like, “This is heaven.” If I die right now, David LaChapelle is telling me about myself, gay stylist tweaking things, trans seamstress sewing as we speak, I’ve made it. I’ve truly, truly made it.

Do you have a favorite part of the process, in making music? Visuals, the touring, the outfits, the writing and recording?

I do genuinely love the visuals just as much as the music. I think you can’t be a pop girlie and not think that it’s got to come hand in hand. Obviously the music comes first, and I’m super passionate about writing. But then I guess the even more fun part is being like, “Okay, what does this music video look like? What’s the campaign shoot?” I live for that stuff, and I always like telling a story through my music, so my visuals will usually have some sort of movie reference or element to it. We’re shooting the music video next week, and I didn’t realize until someone said, “Wow, you really love horror.” I guess I subconsciously have this underlying theme. Carrie was really obvious, but there’s always this undertone of the horror genre, and I think it’s becauseI love the element of feeling on the edge, or not feeling safe, when you’re watching a visual. You don’t know what’s coming next. I think even “Midnight Cowboy” had this sort of scary paparazzi at night. This next video I’m doing… Maybe I can’t actually say that.

People can expect to be surprised, you’re saying.

They can always expect dark undertones, because I love that. My music reflects that tongue-in-cheek, laughing at my trauma vibe. I like when my visuals feel quite glamorous, but then there’s the seedy, dark undertone. I think all my music, in this record, reflects my experience in the industry in some way or another.

Did you feel more excited by the visuals you were producing, maybe instead of in other iterations of your career? Is it easier now than when you were a part of a group dynamic?

Even from a practical point of view, it’s less glam time. There’s a lot more time to shoot things in the day. You’re not doing three, four solo set ups, and in a group, you all have to want to do the same thing. It’s a group decision. So sometimes your opinion might not be the one that makes it. Whereas I literally say, “This is what I want to do,” and I will man that ship, because it has to come from me, especially now as a solo artist. My worst nightmare is giving into somebody else’s ideas, them not doing well, and maybe I didn’t even want to do that in the first place.

I’d much rather have the creative, or a song, fail because I made that decision. It’s a better pill to swallow, it’s definitely easier in that sense. To be fair, for the majority of the time, the girls were on the same page, but the difference was with different labels or different teams sometimes you’re pushed into certain decisions. If you don’t do this, you can’t have this, or you have to do this song because we’ve got this relationship with this producer. I don’t do any of that now. It’s what I say goes.

If there was a JADE playlist for 2024, or the unnamed album’s sonic mood board, who is on it right now?

I do have a playlist, I’m going to pull it up right now. I’ll tell you, I have “Living for Love” by Madonna on there.

So good.

I have a bit of Solange on there, actually, because I feel like she balances a retro sound, but up to date. Obviously, Diana Ross is on there, like “My Old Piano.” I have Channel Tres on there, I manifested him to be on my track, so that’s pretty cool. “Slow,” by Kylie Minogue.

One of the greatest.

Then, I have, like, “Feedback,” Janet Jackson. I guess underground stuff. There’s a song called “Pancake” by Jaded and Ashnikko. It was cool finding songs that were a bit more daring, production-wise. There’s a song by Prince called “Funk and Roll,” which — nobody knows this actually — really inspired “Angel” for me, because of the switch-up in the introduction of the song. It’s quite eclectic, I suppose. Interestingly, I don’t listen to a lot of new music, I don’t like to compare myself or steer it off and be like, They’re doing that, they’re doing well. I have to do something like that. I like to keep to my references that I knew, and I loved listening to at different stages in my life. That’s my vibe.

It’s become something of a meme on the internet, but it was something that existed prior to it becoming a meme: gay guy music video night. Explains itself, get your friends together and put on your favorite music videos. You mentioned doing this with your friends. Besides the ones we’ve talked about, what are the videos you default to?

I do this every Sunday, it’s a religious event for me. We have a Sunday roast and then we put the kettle on, then we sit and we watch music videos. So, I usually go back to the 2000s. It will be like, maybe a bit of Rachel Stevens or Billy Piper. Oh, girl bands. Sugababes. I love watching Normani videos. She does them very well. A lot of Dave Myers, just because he knows how to do the most. I love watching K-Pop videos as well, like BLACKPINK, just because the budget doesn’t exist for them.

They could probably buy the moon with the money they spend on a BLACKPINK video.

I enjoy this sort of randomness as well with a lot of K-Pop videos. They’re like, Here’s a setup, and now we’re on a war tank in camouflage outfits, and now we’re on a subway. It’s pretty eclectic. But we always look at what’s just come out that week as well. I enjoyed Tate McRae’s visuals, recently. What’s cool about her stuff is we know what she is. Do you know what I mean? It’s like an identity, same with Addison Rae, actually. I like watching her videos because I feel like she’s positively surprising everyone.

A lot of people, including myself, were like, I don’t know if a TikToker can do this, in the first iteration of her music career. Then she came out with “Diet Pepsi,” and I realized I was not familiar with her game.

Yeah, and then “Aquamarine,” with the choreography. Very much enjoying them. I guess a bit of old and new, but they’re some of my favorites I’d say, of late.

You’ve mentioned horror and horror movies. Do you have some that are your favorites, that you can watch on repeat?

I love Host, that’s my favorite. That’s like a Zoom call. Have you seen it?

No, I haven’t. I’ll have to watch it.

I’ve got a Shudder subscription, that’s how much I love horror movies.

I get Shudder from my friends for Dragula. I think that’s all it gets used for.

Sometimes the low-budget stuff is actually the best, and Host was the one that came out in lockdown. It’s literally an hour-long Zoom call. That’s up there with one of my favorites. I love The Conjuring. I like when there’s a bit of humor mixed in with the darkness. I just watched one recently with James McAvoy, I’m going to Google it right now. It was so good. That was like, actually really funny.

I appreciate when they can be a little funny, because the straight horror stuff I can’t handle.

I’ll watch it because I love it, but I prefer the mixture. Speak No Evil, that’s what it’s called. Really enjoyed that. Smile, just as a creative, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that, having had someone sort of smiling in the crowd. Brilliant, brilliant. They’re the ones that have come to the top of my head, but I live for horror movies. I’m not surrounded by many people that will watch them with me, it’s really sad.

You’ve done TV appearances, you’ve done music, would you ever star in a horror movie?

I’d love to have my Paris Hilton House of Wax moment.

I was gonna say, it’s too bad, because Trap just came out and had a pop star in it. That would have been perfect.

When Smile 2 came out, I would have loved to have done that.

If the pop stars in horror movies trend continues, get JADE on the phone, movie directors.

When I did the Carrie thing for “Fantasy,” I was like, Oh, I love this. I get the appeal now, when you’re just screaming. It’s actually quite a great release of female rage. That’s what I was going to say. My next video channels female rage. Maybe that is something I’m drawn to in horror movies. I love when women are the ones that save the day.

Photography: Tanner Abel
Styling: Matthew Mazur
Makeup: Mollie Gloss
Hair: Chika Nishiyama
Nails: Kawaii Nails NYC
Set design: Reece Koetter

Photo assistant: Joe Caster
Styling assistants: Hanna Berridge, Zander Slayton
Set design assistant: Zac Thomas
Production assistant: Kaiya Lang

Editor-in-chief: Justin Moran
Managing editor: Matt Wille
Editorial producer: Angelina Cantú
Music editor: Erica Campbell
Story: Joan Summers