ADÉLA has opened up about the anxiety she experienced after the release of Prima, saying relentless online criticism began to affect how she felt about her own songs. In a November 11 interview with Who What Wear, the 22-year-old Slovak singer described feeling overwhelmed by public scrutiny and wanting to escape the noise. Despite that pressure, she remains determined to follow her own musical instincts.
ADÉLA had wanted the attention that comes with being a pop star, but the response to her debut album brought an unexpected problem. The more people discussed her songs online, the harder it became for her to enjoy listening to them. In a new interview, the Slovak singer described how the sudden scrutiny left her overwhelmed and anxious, even as her music was reaching a much larger audience.
The conversation, published on November 11, 2026, looked back at the weeks following the September release of Prima. ADÉLA was rehearsing for concerts, promoting the album and making television appearances while strangers debated her musical choices and public image. She said the sheer volume of commentary had become difficult to separate from the work she had spent months creating.
Her most revealing admission concerned the songs themselves. She recalled becoming so overwhelmed that she began to dislike the music she had made. The criticism and constant attention produced anxiety, and at one point she wanted to escape the situation. She also recognized that performing and living publicly were choices she had made, even if the experience was proving harder than expected.
The singer was describing her feelings about fame, not announcing plans to leave the industry. She did not disclose a medical diagnosis or suggest that she had abandoned her career. Her concern was more immediate: online reactions were affecting the way she experienced music that had once brought her satisfaction.
ADÉLA eventually stepped away from social media after the album came out. Some longtime listeners had criticized Prima for embracing a brighter, more direct pop style than her earlier work. Others suggested that the change must have been dictated by her record label. She rejected that interpretation, insisting that making a large-scale pop record was a decision she had made for herself.
Prima followed her 2025 EP The Provocateur and arrived in September 2026 through Capitol Records. The earlier project had leaned into sharper, more abrasive production and an intentionally provocative presentation. The full-length debut put more emphasis on glossy hooks, playful ideas and electronic pop.
One major turning point was “Ain’t In LA,” a song inspired by Bratislava and her relationship with the city where she grew up. Its release encouraged a TikTok trend in which people celebrated their own hometowns.
“Nicole Kidman” followed with another burst of attention. The single’s theatrical presentation and knowing humor found a receptive audience on social platforms, even attracting a video featuring the actress whose name it carries. For ADÉLA, the growth was significant: a creative space that helped circulate her music had also become a place where strangers could deliver immediate, sometimes harsh verdicts on every new idea.
In the interview, she questioned the impulse to treat every popular release as an invitation to a public argument. She felt that some commentators were eager to reject music precisely because it was reaching a wide audience. Her response was not that criticism should disappear. She wanted to retain the possibility of simply enjoying a song without turning its popularity into evidence against its artistic value.
A mundane moment helped put the attention into perspective. During a grocery trip with her boyfriend, she was reminded that an ordinary errand remained an ordinary errand regardless of what anyone thought of her records. She used the example of buying a carrot to explain that she still had a daily life beyond the persona people judged online.
Her experience with public attention had begun before this year’s breakout. ADÉLA competed on The Debut: Dream Academy, the project that eventually formed KATSEYE, but did not make the group’s final lineup. Her subsequent solo work gave her room to define herself outside that competition.
The singer is already considering another musical shift for her next project. She admitted briefly wondering whether changing direction again would be risky now that she had achieved commercial success. She decided that the instinct to pursue something different was precisely what had helped her in the first place.
ADÉLA has also become more guarded about what success can promise. She said she does not assume that everyone who enjoys her work today will remain a fan indefinitely. The possibility of changing fortunes sometimes makes it harder to appreciate her current achievements, she acknowledged.
The interview also covered her decision not to submit music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards. She was not withdrawing from an announced nomination. Instead, she felt she had more to accomplish before pursuing that kind of recognition. Her immediate priorities include touring and beginning work on another album.
For now, ADÉLA is continuing the live campaign around Prima and thinking about the songs that will follow it. Her account of the criticism explains why she has pulled away from the noise surrounding each release, even while remaining ambitious about her career. The next steps she identified are practical ones: perform the current material, rest when possible and start writing a new record on her own terms.
