In the video for her new single “Fantasy,” Jade appears through a pastel-hued haze like a mirage. Under the twinkle of a disco ball, the light falls on her curls and spangly, Bob Mackie-inspired golden mini dress; in an homage to musical variety shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train, she vamps on a stage in front of a crowd of dancers, her star power shining as brightly as the sequins that trail from her gown. Until, that is, a drag queen sneaks into the party and tips a bucket of blood over her head from on high. As the stage set begins to fall apart and the dancers scramble in horror, a gore-covered Jade tilts her head like a zombie, eyes popping like Sissy Spacek’s in Carrie.
It’s glamorous, campy, and a little twisted—which is to say, it couldn’t feel more Jade. Over just three singles and two videos (including “Fantasy,” which was directed by none other than David LaChapelle), the singer, once known as one-quarter of the chart-topping British girl band Little Mix, has established her identity as a solo artist with laser focus. First, there was her audacious debut “Angel of My Dreams”—a bold and delightfully bonkers rollercoaster ride charting her journey from The X Factor hopeful to fully fledged pop star across multiple tempo changes; then, her follow-up promotional single, the sultry “Midnight Cowboy,” which featured more of her signature winking wordplay (“I’m the ride of your life, not a rental,” she sings, “I’m the editor—call me Mr. Enninful”) over throbbing synths and jerky percussion. “I definitely don’t take myself too seriously—pop is supposed to be fun,” Jade says over the phone from her home in London. “Even if I’m talking about the darker experiences I’ve been through, there’s always going to be a slight bit of humor.”
With “Fantasy,” a glossy slice of Jessie Ware-worthy throwback disco-pop, Jade now has a one-two-three punch of self-assured bangers under her belt. The ambitious and eclectic sonic landscape of her releases so far may speak to the fact she’s an avid scholar of the arts and sciences of pop music, but her playfulness and sheer force of personality make it all feel cohesive. And while Jade’s forthcoming debut album doesn’t yet have a release date (expect it in early 2025), her following is already evolving far beyond her ever-loyal Little Mix fanbase. “I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be as big as it has been,” she says of the success of “Angel of My Dreams,” which quickly hit the top 10 in the UK single charts. More recently, her status as a rapidly rising pop force has been burnished by front row appearances at Burberry, Fendi, and Off-White during fashion week.
The only question remaining, really, is what on earth she did with the enormous retro sign spelling her own name in the “Fantasy” video. Did she ship it back to London to hang at home? “I wish,” Jade says, laughing. “I’ll always take a freebie home with me, but I don’t think that would have fit in my suitcase. I imagine it’s probably sat in David’s studio now—and there are definitely worse places in this world to be.”
Here, Jade tells Vogue about finding freedom as a solo artist, her evolving relationship with the fashion world, and why she’ll always love a Pinterest board.
Vogue: How are you feeling on the eve of releasing your new single? Excited? Nervous? All of the above?
Jade: All of the above! But I’m super proud of my music and I’m really proud of this single, so I guess I’m just excited for the world to hear it. I’m excited to show people more of my world.
At what point in the process of writing the album did “Fantasy” arrive? And was there anyone you were trying to channel with that disco sound?
It was written literally the day after I wrote “Angel of My Dreams,” with Mike Sabath and Pablo Bowman, who are across a lot of the record. I wanted to write a love song, but in a new, exciting way—it’s all about feeling safe and comfortable enough with someone that you love so that you can explore your sexual fantasies. And one of my main influences and inspirations is Diana Ross, so I definitely pulled a bit from her disco era for this track, as well as Donna Summer. But I wanted to take that Motown-leaning vibe and bring it up to date, and into my world. It’s still got a few Jade-isms, and feels a bit experimental with the gear change towards the end and being a bit tongue-in-cheek with the lyrics. But I wanted it to feel very empowering and liberating, and I’m excited to drop some… err… sexual merchandise to go with it.
What do you have up your sleeve with the merchandise?
I’m collaborating with a friend of mine, Samuel Douek [filmmaker and founder of lube brand Howl], on a kind of “Fantasy’ bundle package with some of his products and some of mine. It’s fun getting to do stuff like that. Obviously, in Little Mix, there was kind of a ceiling on how far we could push things with our demographic and fan base. So I’m excited for my own stuff to have that same element of fun and empowerment, but in my own way as a 31-year-old woman.
And how did you end up working with David LaChapelle on the video? That’s pretty major.
Oh my gosh, I still can’t quite believe it, to be honest. It’s been like a fever dream. He started commenting on my photos on Instagram because he loved “Angel of My Dreams,” and I sent it to my stylists a few months ago being like, is this actually the David LaChapelle?! Then we just started chatting, and I was in LA and he invited me to his studio, and that in itself was so magical, because he’d honestly been on my mood boards already as part of my creative vision for the project. When I walked in, he was blasting “Angel of My Dreams” and he had a Jade mood board with pictures of me. [Laughs.] It was pretty surreal! But he was so lovely, and we chatted for hours about films and our mutual love for the big divas, like Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler. Then I played him “Fantasy” and said I’d love him to do the video if he’s into it. And then that was that. I still can’t believe it happened. It was truly an honor.
Tell me more about the fabulous outfit you’re wearing in the video—it’s very Bob Mackie.
Well, it had to be a Bob Mackie-influenced outfit for that era. I feel like it’s the perfect blend of Tina Turner meets Cher meets Diana Ross meets Donna Summer, all rolled into one. It was custom-made by Agro Studio, so it fit perfectly. I will say, being in a corset and high heels for 16 hours on a video shoot isn’t the most fun thing to do, but anything for the fashion. [Laughs.] I wanted it to feel quite classic, especially after the “Angel of My Dreams” video, which was so chaotic—there were 11 looks, so we really threw everything and the kitchen sink at that one. For “Fantasy,” I wanted it to be just one memorable, striking outfit. Although it was sad to see it get covered in blood at the end.
To go back to the beginning a little, I read that you started writing and recording your solo material on your own dime, then started shopping them around to record labels. Did you always have that very clear vision of what you would want to do if you went solo?
I think so. I knew going into my own solo journey that it had to come from me. Everything had to be my choice, because I wasn’t necessarily given that option at the beginning of my career. I wanted to be able to turn up to the labels and be like, ‘This is my sound. You’re going to want it. Who’s going to give me the best deal?’ I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I’m a grounded person, but I do really believe in believing in yourself and knowing your worth, and I’ve done a lot of hard graft in the music industry, so I know I deserve to be here. And I definitely know what I want to be. I am, I guess, a very ardent student of pop, and I know what my references are. For this record, I wanted to do a lot of experimenting and let the fans in on the experience of figuring out my sound, which was very liberating. I feel like I don’t need to pigeonhole myself or put myself in a certain box. The songs sound very different, but why not? It’s my first album, so why shouldn’t it be a bit chaotic? There’ll be plenty of time for albums later down the line that are more cohesive. Right now, I want people to be invited into my erratic pop world. I like surprising people. I like that nobody knows what’s coming next.
How early in the journey of writing a song do you start to picture the visuals? Did you know early on the world you wanted to create around this album?
Yeah, always. I think years of being in a girl band has probably done that to me—everything is quite visual when you’re kind of a brand as well as a pop artist. I love a mood board. I love a bit of Pinterest. I’ve got many a Pinterest folder. For every promo shoot, I’ll do a mood board for makeup, and one for hair, and one for styling. Obviously, then I like to collaborate and let everyone on my team let their imaginations run wild too. But I do think it’s important that I set the tone of what the visual is going to be. I also use books a lot, because I prefer having a physical reference in front of me—that’s something I actually bonded with David over.
And that’s also where you’ll find the references nobody else is looking at.
Yeah, exactly. Online, it’s often the same things circulating, or you end being fed the same things. It’s funny, because I’m super close with my stylists, and I literally think our Explore pages on Instagram are the exact same. So looking at physical art and photography and fashion books helps me find references that are more unique, or allow you to go straight to the source. Recently I’ve been obsessed with this book that a fan bought for me called Voguing and the House Ballroom Scene of New York, and I look at it all the time because there are so many iconic looks and it’s so cool to see a real time capsule of that culture.
That’s such a cool thing for a fan to give you as a gift: a coffee table book.
I know! It was so good. I was like, “Oh my God—taste.” [Laughs.]
Tell me a little bit more about your wider approach to fashion with this record, and that collaborative process between yourself and your stylists, Zack Tate and Jamie Mcfarland.
I think we’ve just known each other so long that they understand my brain inside out. So when I’m sending references or talking to them about what I’m thinking, they’re already halfway there—they get it. Going into my solo stuff, I very much could have started fresh and had a clean slate team-wise, but I felt that Zack and Jamie were really invested in me as an artist, and that meant so much. I want us to grow and evolve together. We always said at the beginning of this that one of our main focuses and one of our main targets was to elevate me in the fashion world, and how do we do that? It’s a lot more liberating and exciting getting dressed as a solo artist, because you’re less restricted. So we really tried to home in on what our targets are, and think about the longevity of it. It’s not a short-term plan. We’re trying to think years ahead.
Well, it seems to be off to a pretty good start—during the most recent fashion month, you were front row for Burberry, Fendi, Off-White…
It’s been so much fun meeting all these new people, and experimenting with fashion a bit more. I do feel like that comes partly because I feel a newfound confidence as well, now that I’ve released some of my own music and I feel like people get it. It’s helped spur me on to walk into those rooms and be like, “Hi, do you want to dress me?” [Laughs.]
And in terms of that response to your music so far, how does it feel to have it received so well? You took a big swing with “Angel of My Dreams,” so it must be satisfying that people seem to have understood what you were trying to achieve with it?
Oh yeah, definitely. I was already sort of gearing up to get on the defensive if people didn’t like the music. I really thought “Angel of My Dreams,” in particular, was going to be more of a Marmite song—I was prepared for that. So when the response was very overwhelmingly positive, it kind of threw me off a bit. I wasn’t expecting it to have that reach either—all of a sudden I felt like I was gaining a new fan base. It was really important for me to do exactly what I wanted to do and take that risk and not necessarily go for a super radio-friendly song from the jump, or to try and please anyone but myself. So it’s been really satisfying to see that pay off.
