REVIEW: JADE “THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!” (2025)
- kevpalowe8
- Apr 16
- 10 min read
Originally posted Sept 2025
Jade Thirlwall. The Geordie from Little Mix who astounded me with her debut solo single “Angel Of My Dreams”. So much so I declared it my favourite singles of 2024. She has continued to impress me every since.
I think her outstanding talent was solidified with me when I saw/heard her version of “Backbone”. Wow!
Chase & Status, and Stormzy “Backbone” https://youtu.be/Qtogm_mo1AQ?si=XpndgRxrS3_qXLWy
Jade “Backbone at BBC Radio 1” https://youtu.be/enkRCE0Zxlc?si=ge2Du8Pq7LdGN1W3
Though nothing has quite blown me away as much as those 2 moments, her singles have all been decent. “Angel Of My Dreams” was released in July 2024, so this has been a long time coming. I have been really looking forward to it, although I’m hugely aware I have been subconsciously building up massive expectations......... can you be hugely aware of something you’re doing subconsciously?............ although I’ve kind of already heard half the album anyway so maybe not.
It kicks off with “Angel Of My Dreams” which really is a killer of an opener (in a good way). I’ll cheat a bit and copy and paste what I wrote about that single last year (slightly edited).
Nothing appealed to the ‘music analyst’ in me more than this track. The 1st time I heard it, it was like a 3 minute whirlwind, with so much jammed into that short space of time. A few seconds after it ended I actually said OUT LOUD to myself ‘hold on, fuck off a minute, what just happened there?’. I will try to succinctly demonstrate why. As a little fun experiment for yourself, the reader, why not listen to it once, read/watch my ‘nutshell’ analysis, then listen again and see if it makes a difference? (I’ve linked an audio only video as the official music video has sound effects and breaks in the track that are distracting).
So, although there’s a standard song-like structured at the centre of the song, it’s padded out a little with something that results in a more arch-like structure, something much less common in pop music (and actually much more common in progressive rock). This is further punctuated by contrasting outer sections in terms of timbre,
tempo, arrangement etc. This arch is as follows: Short a cappella (tag #1), slow ‘angel of my dreams’, main song, slow ‘angel of my dreams’, short a cappella (tag #2). I call them ‘tags’ (as in tag-ons) because they are extremely short.
Lyrically, the track seems to be about the singer achieving her childhood pop star dream but consequently entering a massive love/hate relationship with it – finding the industry treats her as more of a commodity than a human. We can guess the dream was a childhood one because of the childish language used ‘you don’t care’, ‘it’s not fair’ etc. While she can be heard singing these lines various times, each section is punctuated with announcement of these lines in what is presumably Jade’s voice but filtered through an effect that makes it sound disturbingly robotic. What was once the innocent childish voice dreaming of fame and claiming ‘its not fair’ has become an emotionless robotic cog of the machine that churns out pop hits. This is further emphasised by the contract in the vocal of the ‘verses’ of the main bit of the song. In the 1st verse, it’s basically rapped as she explains the problem she’s facing ‘you only care about money’ ‘selling my soul’ etc., with a fair amount of tone and expression. This is Jade’s voice astutely contemplating the situation (and it doesn’t sound good). By the 2nd verse, it’s changed. She lists all the riches her work has bought for her bosses – it’s sung – but in monotone, devoid of expression – she’s inside the machine, a cog – puppet. There’s also more than one voice. They are in harmony – but both monotone. Its like there’s several Jade’s just churning out the same thing. Its loaded with meaning...... and very disturbing.
While we’re on ‘melody’ – its not bad at all. The main chorus-bit is a good melodic figure. Every bit of the melody throughout the track expresses the lyric brilliantly. At times when the singer declares something positive (e.g., ‘I’m in heaven’, ‘love when you call me a star’) the melody reaches for heights and when its negative (e.g., ‘you don’t care’, ‘it’s not fair’) it’s moves downwards right to the depths. This is part of the genius of the chorus melody. When the exposition of ‘angel of my dreams’ is announced we are right at top reaches, the ‘peak’ of the melody. As the actual love/hatred relationship the singer has with this supposed angel is exposed, the melody literally spirals downwards. The shape of this melody is entirely in contrast with the monotone passages where the singer has become the puppet. The harmony does something similar – switching between major (happy) and minor (sad) chords. This is particularly effective during the line ‘when the camera flashy, I act so happy’ which is sung over a minor chord that is surrounded by major chords, so it explicitly stands out. The melody gravitates around the 2nd & 3rd note of the chord. This is striking because the 3rd note is what determines the major or minor status so having the melodic line accentuated it creates real emphasis. Also, in a minor scale the 2rd note is right next to the 3rd – a semitone (rather than a whole tone) apart. We call this chromaticism (when notes are right next to each other) and this has been used traditionally in music to represent tension, unease etc. The lyric suggests the singer is instructed to ‘act happy’ in these moments, and she expresses it in that child-like manner, reminding herself and us of that child that dreamed the dream............ but NOT the reality.
I’ll finally refer back to the structure because it gives us the overall picture. So, there’s a song in the middle. A song about a person that is living their childhood dream, struggling with gratitude at her angel for granting it, loathing it’s darker side, and falling deeper and deeper into the mechanics of it, turning from human to puppet. This is hinted at right from the outset as that #1 tag of the structure is actually a line from the classic track “Puppet On A String”. There is a slow rendition of the chorus at the beginning and end like ‘bookends’ to the main song. It seems to me this is ‘exposition’ – it sounds dramatic and ‘glorious’ as it announces the angel at the beginning. It’s recapitulation (which is preceded by a orchestral sounding climatic figure – kinda like the whole thing is rewinding) is the same but we are now aware of all the tensions explored in the main song. I love this – it is an exact rendition of what we heard the 1st time around.... but it doesn’t sound so ‘glorious’ now – instead it’s steeped with bitter irony. Then there’s the final tag #2. Just 2 notes......... well they’re harmonised so there’s technically 4. The conclusion by outward appearances is ‘I’ll always love you’ (rather than ‘hate you’) – but it’s just 2 notes, and without the music behind it, the harmony is ambiguous. So the conclusion of ‘I’ll always love you’ sounds uncertain – perhaps deflated.
Here’s a video to try and help bring some of these words to life a bit. Again, I suggest you give the track another listen once you’ve finished.
“IT Girl” follows and continues in a similar light. When it came out as a single I had a slight suspicion that it was an attempt to repeat “Angel Of My Dreams” because it has a number of similarities, none more so that the lyrical subject. It is a good track, though. There’s great contrast between the angelically sung passages and the cynically rapped sections. This reflects the different personalities of the pop girl persona on display for the public and the person’s real thoughts and personality coming through. It contains the downwards inflected raps that become a signature throughout the album.
“FUFN” has a more traditional pop feel to it than the 1st 2 tracks. Commenting on the single earlier in the year, I likened it to Lady Gaga. It contains very traditional song structure and melodic writing. The main repeated melody uses classic “Eight Days A Week” composition. This is where the 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines of a 4-phrase melody are more or less identical. The 3rd line is somewhat contrasting. Interestingly, in “FUFN” the 3rd contrasting line is remarkably similar to the 3rd line of “Eight Days A Week”. What’s even more spooky is that last time a wrote about the “Eight Days A Week” compositional method, I was commenting on the track “The Business” by Teïsto from 2023. And the melody from lines 1, 2, & 4 “FUFN” are almost identical to “The Business”. Anyway, although its a fairly traditional and therefore unremarkable track, its very good.
The next track continues in the same ‘good but unremarkable’ vain. Whereas the 1st 2 tracks explored contrasting sides of fame, “Plastic Box” examines conflicting emotional aspects of a relationship. It seems to be’ happiness’ on the one hand but ‘jealousy’ (rather than pain or sadness) on the other, when thinking about a partner’s past. Musically, it offers a somewhat gentler ambience compared to the 1st 3 tracks. Those were ‘heavy and edgy’. This one is kind of ‘light and breathy’.
There is a juxtaposition of the heavier tone of the 1st 3 tracks and the gentler ambience of the 4th track in “Midnight Cowboy”, which has a ‘club’ feeling to it. The bass end of the track is heavy. However, the backdrop and the vocals are of a very light touch. Jade’s vocal style twists and turns from section to section, displaying her versatility. I’ve seen it described as ‘tech-house inspired’. It is certainly in contrast to the traditional pop feel of “FUFN”. In fact, it almost feels experimental, although not as innovative as “Angel Of My Dreams”.
“Fantasy” has a more disco/funk feel to it. The vocals are particularly noteworthy. The track includes rap, talk-singing and a sort of dreamy high register stylised vocal. There’s something quite enigmatic about this track. Consequently, I can’t quite put my finger on it. It may be because the track largely centres around 2 alternating chords. F & G. This creates an ambiguity. Which of the 2 chords is the more important? Which is the tonic, i.e., the key it is written in? Is this a progression of chords 1 & 2 of a key or the flattened 7th chord rising to the tonic chord. The answer, of course, is both and/or neither. That’s the chords. But there’s more. The chords are actually F major-7th and G6. The major 7th note and 6 note of those two chords is E. So the E note is shared by both chords and links them together. This adds to the enigmatic nature of the tonal organisation because the 2 chords are not even entirely separated – so neither one feels more important than the other. Unsatisfactorily, I will declare it a brilliant track but without being able to justify it.
“Unconditional” seems to be a tribute to JADE’s mother who suffers from lupus. In the past Jade Thirlwall has expressed a feeling of hopelessness due to being unable to help. In an unpredictable move, this is an upbeat disco-like track, rather than a slow rousing ballad you might expect from such a tribute.
“Self Saboteur” has some interesting backing vocal work with wordless and dreamlike flourishes, and echo-effects. As It fades, it meets the beat of the following track “Lip Service”. This is not bad but stands out as a pretty generic pop offering compared to the tracks that surround it. That includes “Headache” which seems to attempt to create the feeling of its title for the listener with its big chaotic sound. It has a high-pitched, angry and urgent vocal style against a thudding bass and a horn section that sounds discordant (although it isn’t). This is punctuated by distorted electric guitar and bizarre sound effects and lead the ear away from anything more comfortingly organised in the mix. Lyrically, it seems to be portraying a sort of on-going dispute in a relationship but in a rather genius take, the singer seems to acknowledge that they may be the more at fault in the discourse.
Providing balance as well as diversity, “Natural At Disaster” turns to the ballad, although not entirely conventionally. It starts off that way, almost jazz-like, but becomes very heavy in tone and production.
“Glitch” is a quite unique and I guess somewhat experimental track in terms of production (the song composition is very standard). The track is largely drum-track and bass, with little flourishes of backing music backing and vocals that come at you unpredictably and all over the place. Its a good track and certainly interesting listening.
“Before You Break My Heart” is one of those ‘half-cover-song’ tracks. “Stop! In The Name Of Love” by the Supremes, of course. I like the way that it doesn’t stick strictly to the harmonic progression of the original track (for example, for the ‘think it o-o-ver’ bit, the chord sequence of the ‘stop in the name of love’ bit continues).
“Silent Disco” is a subtle and understated yet strong close to the album. It is a track that didn’t do a lot for me on the 1st listen, but by the 3rd or 4th time I was starting to hear its brilliance. It opens with a distant and haunting chorus of voices. The harmonic progression fascinates me because its very simple and conventional yet somehow unpredictable. Everytime I believe I can predict what the next chord will be based on simple pop song-writing procedures, something very slightly different happens. Never incredible, its still tonally conventional, but not quite where my brain was going. The vocal delivery somehow expresses a fragility whilst also showcasing Thirlwall’s impressive vocal talent. There are little vocal flutters that take us higher and higher against a soft ambient backdrop. The song drifts softly into a somewhat inconclusive open-endedness. That! That..... leaves us wanting more.
Jade and her team are a little more edgy, innovative, and boundary-pushing than many. Sometimes it lands better than other times. The albums starts off with great strength, fluctuates a bit and does reach a bit of a low point with “Self Saboteur” and “Lip Service” but picks up again and builds towards a good ending. The problem is that the more conventional offerings, while still solid pop tracks, seem a little dull in comparison to more ambitious presentations. Jade Thirlwall is a massively talented vocal performer but seems to humbly underplay it. I like that. I rate her pretty highly and this album is brilliantly done. I feel like I was wanted something even more – but its not all about ME is it? 7
Standout tracks:
Angel Of My Dreams
Headache
Natural At Disaster
Silent Disco
Marking key (in a nutshell)
10 – Perfect (only 3 albums in history)
9 – Basically 10/10 (I just don’t quite view them in the same way as the 3 albums)
8 – Outstanding (possible nit-picking criticisms)
7 – Brilliant
6 – Good
5 – Average
4 – Has potential but below average
3 – Some good points but not very good overall
2 – Poor (possibly a few good points)
1 – Abysmal
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