Jade Thirlwall reveals the meaning behind 'Angel of My Dreams' lyrics
The pressure of creating a popular song almost killed Jade Thirlwall's creativity, but she found her voice and wrote some of the best music for upcoming projects.
Jade Thirlwall is opening up about the meaning behind her first song as a solo artist, 'Angel of My Dreams'.
The Little Mix group member released the song in July 2024, and it quickly climbed the charts in the UK, peaking at #7.
She co-wrote 'Angel of My Dreams' with Steph Jones, Pablo Bowman, and Mike Sabath. The song is described as Jade's 'love-hate letter to the industry'.
Speaking to Genius, Jade says when she first started working on music for her solo career, she felt some pressure to write songs that everyone would love.
"Up until 'Angel of My Dreams' was written, I was going in rooms being like, 'I have to write a radio-friendly song, I have to write a song that's going to do well on TikTok, I have to write a song that's gonna please the label.' I feel like that is always the biggest killer of creativity when you feel pressure to write something for somebody else," she said.
The 31-year-old says she decided to put herself first, which resulted in her creativity flowing naturally.
"The minute you are doing to just please you or your younger self, which is what I did a lot with this project. I was like, 'What does little Jade want to hear?' The minute I put myself first in that creative space is when the best music was written."
ALSO READ: Little Mix's Perrie Edwards talks solo debut
Jade says she wrote many songs before 'Angel of My Dreams', but nothing that felt like it was "hitting enough" to be the first single.
She says the song describes how toxic the music industry can be and how obsessed she was with being a star. She sings in one verse:
Care that I'm mad, care that I'm sad
It's so bad, it's funny
Care if I cry, care if I die
You only care about money
"I think I learned very quickly when I was put in the band [Little Mix] and signed my first deal, and all this stuff, that I really was kind of a product and not human at times. So, that's kind of what that verse is talking about - being aware that you are in this money machine and you're just a pawn in the game," she tells Genius about the lyrics.
Jade is currently working on music for her new album. She has not revealed its title or release date. Fans can, however, expect a few more song releases before it drops.
Jade debuted a new song called 'Midnight Cowboy' this week.
"I didn’t want you all to have to wait so long for music again 💙MIDNIGHT COWBOY💙 is a gift from me to you until my next single drops," she wrote on Instagram.
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Main image credit: Instagram/Jade Thirlwall