JADE (Jade Thirlwall) has shared a new single, ‘IT Girl’.
Produced and co-written with Cirkut and Lostboy, CLASH heard an earlier iteration of the song titled ‘That’s Showbiz, Baby!’. The caustic number captures the hardwired, industrial-pop energy of a vintage Richard X production and continues JADE’s provocative breakaway from her girl-group origins.
On ‘IT Girl’, JADE memorialises her past experiences in the industry with barbed lines exploring exploitation, artistic autonomy, sexism and voyeurism. “It’s ‘Angel’s’ cunty little sister,” Jade told CLASH in her Issue 129 cover interview last year. “She goes bigger, harder and deeper. It was an easier one to write because I knew what I wanted to say. It’s what pop should be: playful, confrontational but still a bop.”
Honouring her past has meant exposing the lurid reality of coming-of-age on screen, of being morphed by a corporation that demands regular appearances and a regular flow of content.
“I liken it to a relationship because it gave me so much but also took too much,” JADE says. “It’s a show that says as a 25-year-old you’re too old to be a pop star. That seems like the perfect age to go into this. You don’t have the tools to express yourself when you’re 17. I wouldn’t do it that way again.”
‘IT Girl’ follows a series of stellar singles: the nu-disco hit ‘Fantasy’, clubland classic ‘Angel Of My Dreams’ and the Ncuti Gatwa-assisted ‘Midnight Cowboy’. ‘Angel…’ has accumulated over 50 million streams to date, entering the UK Official Singles Chart at No.7 – the third highest new entry for a British artist last year.
JADE will release her debut solo album this year. She’ll perform alongside RAYE, Tyla and Doechii at All Points East on August 23rd. Click for more info here.
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