Jade on 'Angel Of My Dreams,' Little Mix, and more: 'I needed that time to evolve'

Stopping by to chat with Audacy’s Mike Adam at The Hard Rock Hotel in New York, former Little Mix member Jade discussed her solo journey, her single “Angel Of My Dreams,” and more.

LISTEN NOW : Jade discusses 'Angel Of My Dreams,' Little Mix, and more

Talking about the transition from girl group to solo artist, Mike inquired what, and how long, it took to nail down what solo- Jade would be, and if she ever envisioned it prior to the Little Mix hiatus.

“I think I kind of thought about it a bit, like when the group was beginning to begin the hiatus,” Jade revealed. “We kind of talked about what the rollout was, and in doing so, I was like ‘OK, I gotta start thinking about who I am.’” Noting “It's been, like 2 and half years since then,” Jade admitted, “I needed that time to evolve and become my own artist.”

Describing it as “bittersweet” to have to let go of that chapter of her life “because I loved Little Mix," she says. "I’m the biggest Stan and fan of the group, so it was definitely sad when it ended. But I think it's a new beginning and like everything in life, change is good."

As for what that change will sound like, Jade's lead single as a solo artist “Angel Of My Dreams,” has officially arrived.

Praising Jade for doing what she set out to do, Mike expressed, “I think you immediately sound like your own artist,” noting he felt slight Little Mix vibes at the top of the track, but “then the beat drops” and it’s very obvious that “this is Jade.”

Delving into the inspiration for the song, Jade explained it’s “essentially about my kind of experience in the music industry. So that slow opening is almost like the beginning of my career, where everything is like, ‘Oh, this is so magical.’ And then you get propelled into the industry, and that's what I wanted the song to feel like.”

Discussing the evolution of the song, and when everything sort of clicked, Jade revealed, “The sample in it is, ‘Puppet on a String,’ which is by Sandie Shaw . It's a very old Eurovision contest song from like the sixties," she said, softly singing a bit of the song. “Originally that was the chorus, me singing that, and then we rewrote a chorus to go on top of it. So, yeah, it probably did sound quite different initially, but the kind of chaos of it was always there. We knew that's what we wanted to do, slow down the tempo, speed it up, bring it back down, pitch up vocals, I wanted it to feel like there was a lot going on.”

After being a part of a group for so long, Jade admitted that throughout writing her album she hadn't put much thought into features. “I just sort of wanted to write just for me, and create music that felt just like my sound, and then think about collabs after. But I definitely have a wish list of people that I'd love to work with, whether it's on the record or outside of it.”

Discussing what Little Mix track Jade strongly believes should have been a single, the answer was very adamantly “Wasabi.”

“Justice for 'Wasabi' always,” Jade said, “I will never shut up about it. And I'll probably put it in my set when I do my own shows.” Similarly, while “Touch” was technically a single, Jade thoroughly believes the song “definitely deserved more, especially over here,” referring to the U.S. “We saw that reaction… We toured with Ariana Grande on the Dangerous Woman tour, and every time we perform ‘Touch’ it went off and we knew it was special…. But for whatever reason, it didn't quite happen.”

Jade also discussed her relationship with Perrie and Leanne , being the cool auntie to their kids, as well as using her platform for good, and the importance of being vocal about certain things. She shares, “You can't just keep quiet or brush them another rug. I think I've always been quite outspoken about things I feel passionate about, whether that is like social issues, or allyship, or any sort of political injustices.”

Nearing the end of the convo, Jade also casually name-dropped some of the top-tier producers she worked with on her impending solo album including Steph Jones (who wrote Sabrina Carpenter 's “Espresso” ) on “Angel Of My Dreams,” as well as Mike Sabbath , who was “one of the main producers on the album, he did all the RAYE records,” Jade offered up.

For all that and more, check out Jade’s entire interview above.