The internet’s favorite funny guy Jake Shane has officially entered the world of music. His new album, Puss & Poems, is out everywhere and mixes the 24-year-old TikTok sensation’s comedy with a bit of pop, courtesy of frequent collaborator Alexander 23.
“You know how I always want to be a pop star?” he tells friend (and noted pop star) Tate McRae over-the-phone on the album’s intro. “Well, I’m gonna do it… be a pop star.” But he didn’t do it alone: The project features everyone from Joe Jonas to Jersey Shore’s Snooki and Jack Schlossberg over 12 tracks, spanning topics like Sugarfish, Postmates and JetBlue.
At the end of November, Shane brought the live version of his podcast, Therapuss, to Los Angeles at The Wiltern. Names like Reneé Rapp came out to support the rising star, who was joined onstage by Alexander 23 to perform Puss & Poems songs for a sold out crowd. “What a way to end tour,” he wrote on Instagram, and gave PAPER an exclusive look inside the special experience, below.
Boarding my flight from SF to LA. Nerves are setting in and my anxiety was palpable.
Home for a few hours. Scrolled on my laptop, ordered Erewhon and paced around the house. My friends told me I was being “manic,” but I called it “pre-show prep.”
Made it to the venue and checked on streams for [my album] Puss & Poems… I was very excited.
Changed into Puss & Poems merch after the VIP meet-and-greet and began to go through the “Tell Me What’s Wrongs” for the show.
Alexander [23] got there to rehearse and gifted me the guitar we wrote Puss & Poems on. I would’ve cried, but I’m on meds.
Reneé Rapp was special guest and this was my first time seeing her in so long. She instantly made me feel so much better and I was ready to perform.
One last pre-show chant before I hit the stage with Matt and Louise.
performing “JetBlue” with Alexander [23] for the first time on stage to end the tour.
Running to my friend’s arms as I finish the show.
Alice telling me she was crying laughing during the show. Which is all I needed to hear, really and truly.
Adéla is bored of the “perfectly cut, not at all ‘rough around the edges’ pop star.” That’s why she’s doing it differently this time.
The pop star aspirant returns today with “SUPERSCAR,” a follow-up to debut single “HOMEWRECKED” earlier this year. Like her previous outing, the song and accompanying video are a bit “brutal,” in Adéla’s own words. “I, in no way, shape, or form, think I’m like, the Aristotle of pop or anything. But I do think I try to always bring in a bigger picture message and a bit of room to think.” She hopes to “provoke” her audience, explaining that this latest single run is “uncomfortable and very over-the-top, literal.”
The once-prospective member of KATSEYE went solo after a run on Netflix’s Pop Star Academy, immediately breaking free from the image conscious girl group mold she’d been trained in alongside her fellow competitors. Despite not making the group, it’s clear her time in HYBE’s intense, often harrowing training camp paid off in dividends. Like “HOMEWRECKED,” which she also wrote, “SUPERSCAR” is a totally surprising indie-pop package: raw vocals, clever storytelling and magnetic choreography. What more can we ask for?
As for what these singles might be building towards, Adéla says, “The idea is to create a story through an EP for this character that goes through these over-the-top experiences described in ‘HOMEWRECKED’ and ‘SUPERSCAR’ — an exaggerated reality of my life.”
Ahead of the video’s exclusive PAPER premiere, we chatted with Adéla about stunt choreography, vocal production, Britney Spears’ continued impact and divas, below.
This is your followup single to “HOMEWRECKED,” and like your debut, it really breaks the mold of the image-conscious girl group hopeful fans were introduced to you as. How did this song come to be?
That makes me weirdly happy. “SUPERSCAR,” similarly to “HOMEWRECKED,” is based on real experiences. I grew up in the entertainment industry, starting ballet in Moscow at the age of three and then getting into the music industry so publicly. This song is a culmination of lived experiences with imbalanced power dynamics and dreams being so precious to young talent, but not being precious at all to those in power. It’s about people-pleasing, about being aware of the abuse that’s happening to you, about just wanting to do what you love and about rising above it all in the end. You didn’t make me a superstar, but you gave me this superscar, and in a twisted way, that makes me want to keep going even further.
There’s a video of you building the vocal stack for “HOMEWRECKED” on TikTok that people quickly became obsessed with, a song you also wrote. Were you similarly involved in the making of “SUPERSCAR”?
Oh yes, I write all of my stuff alongside my amazing co-creators. These songs, these experiences are me through and through. I’m very opinionated and nuanced in everything I do. I honestly can’t imagine receiving a pre-written song and feeling completely satisfied with it. It’s just not how my brain functions.
Have you always been interested in production and songwriting, alongside singing and dance?
Honestly, my first obsession was mastering vocals. As a kid I became enamored by the divas: Whitney, Céline, Patti, Aretha, Mariah. I wanted to study them and be able to belt “I Have Nothing” one day. Then came my obsession with harmonies and vocal production, that’s my favorite part of the process now. Being raised by queens of harmonies like Beyoncé and Ariana as well as Imogen Heap, I became obsessed. I’d find and illegally (don’t clock me) download the vocal stems of their songs and listen to that non-stop as a kid. It was mind-altering. I think songwriting came later in life to help in times when my feelings became too complicated to talk about. Around 14 is when I started writing songs on my piano in my room.
What also stood out in that aforementioned video, at the time, was the sticker of Britney’s “…Baby One More Time” album on your laptop. Is she a primary inspiration for you, in pop music?
Britney is a primary inspiration to anyone making pop music, whether they know it or not. I think that specific era of pop stardom was so incredibly shaping and revolutionary. I cannot help myself, but give her all the flowers, as the pioneering figure of that period. I also just think she’s an incredibly strong woman, which is always a big topic on my brain.
Speaking of imagery, the video plays on the idea of a younger you watching yourself, a pop star, on TV. Does that mirror your own life and journey at all now, as your pop career takes off?
Yes, that’s what the idea is about. As a kid, you idolize certain things, career paths, people and when you arrive at those places that you didn’t think you actually could, the reality is a lot less polished and perfect, than what it seemed like as a kid. The story is pretty simple at its core. Doesn’t make it much less heartbreaking when it’s your reality though
There’s also a fantastic sequence with water, towards the back half of the video. How fun was it to try out new things, like water stunts, and what was it like to pull that off on set?
The water scene was my favorite, it was such a gag. I was living my pop girl fantasy in my latex bodysuit and rain and crazy choreo. It was a fire, 10/10 experience. Would and will be doing it again. Everybody on set was so supportive and fun to work with, and that scene was actually one of the easiest ones to shoot, which is kind of iconic.
There were also KATSEYE members at your recent 21st birthday. How does it feel to have found so many friends and collaborators who can share this new solo journey with you?
The relationships I have made through art and these crazy ass experiences that I’ve gone through, are for life. I truly value the people I’ve come across. I feel so very understood and so supported by them. They’re my biggest hype women and I am theirs. It’s super satisfying being surrounded by confident, talented, hard-working, successful people. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right.
