Jade Thirlwall has cleared up speculation about one particular lyric on her debut solo single.
Last month, the former Little Mix star released Angel Of My Dreams, which she has explained was inspired by her experiences in the music industry over the course of the last decade.
One lyric in particular, in which Jade sings that she “sold my soul to a psycho”, has been interpreted by many as a dig at Simon Cowell, whose now-defunct record label, Syco, she was signed to after winning The X Factor in 2011.
Asked about whether this line “is about a certain someone from your past” by Entertainment Tonight, Jade coyly commented that it was “open for interpretation”.
“The song is a story of my life, from beginning to now, so you’re literally following the journey,” she said, describing the line as “fun lyric with an intended pun behind it”.
However, she did make one important clarification, noting: “What I would say is that I wasn’t coming for the team at Syco, because they were actually really brilliant to us. Our A&R, our digital team, everybody there was great.
“But you know, I’m very much aware that I was part of this very powerful machine that was controlled by very powerful men at the top. So, you know, there’s no denying that. Make of that what you will.”
Things didn’t end on the best note for Little Mix and Simon Cowell, after they abruptly left his Syco label in the middle of promoting their LM5 album, and signed with RCA instead, where Jade remains as a solo artist.
Asked for a low point of her time in the music industry, Jade admitted to Entertainment Tonight: “When we switched labels, that was kind of a lot. That was chaotic, very challenging, a lot of drama behind closed doors.
“But the fact that we got through that together and we survived it, and we still continued to have a very fruitful career, I’m really grateful that we had each other and we got each other through that.”
A rep for Simon Cowell’s entertainment company previously said of the Angel Of My Dreams lyric: “The entire team who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes with Little Mix to help make the group a success would, I’m sure, always continue to wish them solo success.”
Jade’s song previously peaked at number seven in the UK singles chart, and hasn’t left the top 20 since it was released.