THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!
When JADE made her bombastic solo debut with “Angel of My Dreams” in July 2024, her yet to be named album had already been completed. The song, a Mike Sabath production that splices power-ballad theatrics, stomping electro basslines, and sugary, sardonic melodies into a Frankenstein’s monster of a tune, was hailed by fans and critics alike for its bold experimentalism, setting up sky-high expectations for the Little Mix star’s future output. As JADE told Apple Music’s Rebecca Judd, shortly after its release: “There’s a lot of songs on the record that have that same experimental vibe. I have a few of the more straight-down-the-line, poppy songs on there, but peppered in with the chaos that is my brain.” The statement holds water now *THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!* has landed. Front-loaded with singles, which see JADE navigate shimmering disco sensuality (“Fantasy”), ballroom club (RAYE co-write “Midnight Cowboy”), and no-punches-pulled electropop (“FUFN (Fuck You for Now)”) with consummate ease, the back half of the record pulls her broad spectrum of influence together cohesively without sacrificing any of the originality or left-field choices that have come to shape her sonic identity. “I think \[the reaction to ‘Angel of My Dreams’\] has given me reassurance that I can really be myself,” JADE said. “I can take these risks. I can do something a bit braver…” That confidence extends to the album’s lyrical themes, which examine JADE’s complex feelings about life in the spotlight, love and its maddening effects—see the delightfully unhinged romance of “Plastic Box”—and the relatable feeling of being at war with your own mind, from all angles. She shoulders her own blame for throwing up emotional walls on “Self Saboteur” only to pull back the curtain with skittish midtempo “Glitch,” revealing the distorted inner voice “telling me lies, telling me how it is” and “hijacking all my decisions.” “Unconditional” makes floaty, ethereal promises of love without reservations to someone struggling to love themselves over a chugging, synth-pop beat, while “Natural at Disaster” takes the concept of a torch song and interprets it literally, putting a vocally dramatic match to the gentle, piano-backed memory of a toxic dynamic. “If there are any darker topics that are personal to me that I write about, then I always give it a bit of a humor to it,” JADE said, speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in the week of release. “It’s been fun as a songwriter being able to finally write more personal concepts and explore that and show people exactly who I am.” Unsurprisingly, given JADE’s widespread songwriting contributions during the decade she spent as a member of one of the UK’s most successful girl groups, *THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!* shares some of its DNA (and its producers, including Sabath, MNEK, and Lostboy) with the sounds of late-career Little Mix. While it’s common for band members striking out on their own for the first time to reinvent themselves entirely—a kickback against the artistic compromise that collective creativity demands—JADE boldly bucks the trend, converging her own unique impetus with echoes of the familiar. *THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!* feels more grounded in authenticity as a result, allowing her to take ownership of her past as she builds for the future.
JADE becomes a full-fledged pop superstar on ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’, an album that’s chock-full of bravado, intelligence and hits.
THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY! is a cabaret, dipping into a variety of pop-adjacent styles to keep you entertained all evening with JADE as the star of the show.
JADE, ever-captivating as she shapeshifts through park ’n bark ballads and synthy, up-tempo dance music, goes big on her solo debut.
JADE’s solo debut is at its best when it echoes the maximalist racket of its lead single, while Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back to her commanding, confident pop-star self on ‘Perimenopop’
THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! by Jade album review by Sam Franzini for Northern Transmissions. The LP is out today via Sony Music
Jade Thirlwall offers a wild ride through electroclash, Eurovision drama and emotive synth-pop – albeit one she can’t quite maintain for a whole album