Pop star Jade felt ‘weight lifted off her shoulders’ as she reached major milestone

Former Little Mix singer says she wants her new album to sound like she’s ‘finding herself again’

Pop star Jade has spoken of how hitting a major life milestone helped her to begin opening up about her true feelings.

The former Little Mix singer turned solo artist is currently preparing to release her debut album, following the success of singles such as “Angel of My Dreams” and “FUFN (F*** You For Now)”.

“Literally the minute I turned 30 it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders and I stopped caring so much about what people think,” she told Puss Puss magazine in a recent interview.

“Which is lucky, because I feel like now I’m on my own, I’ll obviously get more scrutiny. There’s more of a magnifying glass.”

She continued: “I think people still expect me to look like the 20-year-old girl that I was, but obviously, my body has changed.”

Now 32, Jade said she was keen for the album to be released, as it would mean she could start writing new material.

Jade Thirlwall at the Brit Awards (Getty Images)

“I wanted this album to literally sound like I’m finding myself again, and I think you can hear that sonically,” she said.

“I wanted the fans to be let in on that experience because that’s the truth, that was the process of this album – figuring out what my sound is.”

Jade is scheduled to make a number of live appearances this year, including Mighty Hoopla festival in London next month.

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The Mighty Hoopla announcement arrived shortly after the release of her latest single “IT Girl”, a dance-pop number that she described in an interview with The Independent as “‘Angel of My Dreams’s c***y little sister”.

“There’s still so much that people don’t know about me, so I was eager to surprise people, poke the bear a bit,” she said.

“I did feel anxious about pissing people off or any sort of backlash, but I have to write about what my experiences are – I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It is, you know, my reality.”

Meanwhile, “FUFN” was written by Jade with fellow pop breakthrough RAYE and Dave Hamelin, and was first teased during a new Fendi campaign.

“FUFN” is the escalation of an argument we’ve all had, knowing it’s not the end but feeling all the anger in the moment,” she explained.

“It’s the channelling of female rage into a badass big pop banger.”

Last month, Jade received the Brit Award for Best Pop Act, following a dramatic performance of a medley of her solo singles to date.