JADE has shared an update on her second solo album, describing the new music as honest, bold and driven by the experiences of 2026. Speaking around the Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle, she discussed working with Mike Sabath and plans for further sessions in Los Angeles. She also reflected on her first Reading Festival performance and her hopes for bigger festival stages in future.
JADE has not finished her second solo album, but she knows the attitude she wants to bring to it. At the Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle on October 22, she described music rooted in her recent experiences and a desire to continue making adventurous pop. The project remains in development, with further studio work ahead rather than an announced title or release schedule.
The occasion was significant because her debut, That's Showbiz Baby!, was among the nominated albums. Returning to northeast England brought the event close to South Shields, where she grew up. The nomination recognized a record through which she had introduced a personal musical identity after her years in Little Mix, giving another public setting to the solo work she now wants to develop further.
Asked what makes a great album, JADE emphasized authenticity and the courage to follow artistic choices. Her interest is in making the music she wants rather than continually reshaping decisions around what she imagines a broad audience expects. That view supplies the creative principle she is carrying into the next project, even while its final sound remains unsettled.
She spent part of the summer working with producer Mike Sabath between festival appearances and other commitments. The schedule did not allow one uninterrupted recording period, but it gave them opportunities to try ideas and begin developing material. Those sessions represent a known part of the process, without establishing how much of the eventual album has been completed.
Sabath already has a central connection with her solo career through Angel of My Dreams. The track's abrupt transitions, rhythmic changes and theatrical production introduced listeners to an artist willing to move between different versions of pop within one recording. Working together again provides continuity with that beginning, but it does not guarantee that the next album will reproduce the same production choices.
JADE plans to spend more time in Los Angeles in the weeks after the interview, concentrating on the sound of the record. The material is still at an early creative stage, so those sessions will help determine which ideas develop into finished songs. A planned trip should not be mistaken for confirmation that the album is almost ready or that a release date has been fixed.
She was cautious about revealing specifics, but said the writing reflects what she has experienced during 2026. Personal and professional events provide material for the songs. Her description of another forceful pop statement concerns the energy and honesty she hopes to retain, rather than identifying a particular genre, instrumental arrangement or set of finished recordings available for listeners to assess.
Comfort with collaborators is important to that process. JADE said she enjoys writing with people she knows and trusts, allowing ideas to develop without an immediate obligation to define the final result. That familiarity can provide room to experiment while maintaining a personal voice. Her comments describe how she wants to work as well as what she hopes the music will communicate.
At the ceremony, she performed Angel of My Dreams, returning to the song associated with the start of her solo career. RAYE ultimately won for This Music May Contain Hope. The result did not remove the significance of the nomination for JADE, whose first full solo release was being recognized alongside other major records of the year.
Her first Reading Festival appearance was another experience she singled out. She had initially been uncertain about how a pop set would be received at an event with strong historical ties to rock and alternative music. The audience response proved encouraging, and she remembered the performance as one of her favorite moments of the festival season, fulfilling a longstanding ambition to play there.
The success of that appearance has encouraged larger ambitions. She would like eventually to headline Reading & Leeds, but did not announce a booking in that role. JADE also spoke warmly about Glastonbury in 2025 and expressed a wish to return in 2027. Her enthusiasm should remain separate from confirmation of an agreement, since none was supplied in the interview.
Those live goals run alongside the writing rather than replacing it. After years of performing within a group, she can now build a show around her own material and learn how it works in front of different audiences. The response at Reading gave her a concrete example of that process, while a crowded year of shows and recognition has supplied further experiences for the new songs.
For the immediate future, the next known steps are more work with Sabath and the planned Los Angeles sessions. No final track list, album title or release date has been announced. JADE is still turning the year's experiences into material, with the sound of the finished record to be shaped through the writing and recording ahead. The festival ambitions remain a separate set of goals for her live career.
