Rising pop artist ADÉLA has released her highly anticipated debut album, PRIMA, a 13-track project that captures her pursuit of pop stardom while revealing the ambition, vulnerability and humour shaping her artistic identity. Released via Capitol Records, the album is co-executive produced by Blake Slatkin and Dylan Brady.
Following a debut EP built around industrial pop and high-impact production, PRIMA presents a broader picture of ADÉLA as a performer and songwriter. The 22-year-old draws on the experiences of growing up, navigating relationships and finding her place in the music industry, balancing bold, confident moments with more intimate reflections on her personal life.
“I want this album to sound exactly like a 22-year-old girl,” she says. “A lot of shit’s happening in my life, which is the nature of being a young woman. At my age, you either hear, ‘She’s really deep,’ or, ‘She’s funny and doesn’t take anything seriously.’ I tried to express both sides. I mixed the hard with the soft, the vulnerable with the swag of it all, and the muscular beats with the feminine energy. I did exactly what I wanted to.”
That willingness to embrace different sides of herself runs throughout PRIMA. Rather than committing to a single image, ADÉLA moves between strength, humour, sensuality and emotional honesty, presenting an artist determined to define her own version of pop stardom.
The album’s arrival is accompanied by a new music video for “Nicole Kidman”, directed by Hannah Lux Davis. The visual pays tribute to some of the Oscar-winning actress’s most recognisable screen roles, drawing references from Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, Birth and Babygirl, alongside Kidman’s memorable AMC Theatres commercial.
ADÉLA’s inspiration for the song came after attending a Golden Globes event, where getting dressed up for the occasion prompted her to imagine herself as the celebrated actress. Speaking to W Magazine, she recalled becoming fascinated with Kidman after watching Eyes Wide Shut, describing her as the ultimate movie star. The track turns that moment into a playful expression of glamour and pop-culture admiration.
Elsewhere, ADÉLA uses PRIMA to explore relationships and the expectations placed on women. On “I’m The Man”, produced by Cashmere Cat, she challenges traditional gender roles by examining what happens when a woman’s success disrupts familiar ideas about power in a relationship.
“The more successful I get, the harder it becomes to find a man comfortable with my success,” she explains. For ADÉLA, a relationship that accommodates ambition requires confidence from both people, particularly when conventional expectations about who should lead are reversed.
She takes a different approach on “Fantasize”, where a confident, whispered delivery recalls an element of Britney Spears’ pop legacy. The track embraces sexual self-assurance, adding another dimension to an album that refuses to separate femininity from control or vulnerability from confidence.
There is room for a softer side, too. Previously released single “Red Bottoms” and album track “Hitachi” offer more tender moments, while “Therapy” brings listeners closer to the pressures behind the rising star’s public image.
Written and recorded while ADÉLA was seriously ill and balancing touring, studio sessions and other commitments, “Therapy” features a heavily Auto-Tuned vocal set against sparse keys. The song becomes a space for candid reflections, moving between frustrations with music industry executives and the emotional bond she shares with her older sister, despite the distance separating them.
Another significant moment in ADÉLA’s rise has been “Ain’t In LA”, which earned her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Inspired by the sound of Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz era, the empowering track speaks to people who feel their ambitions are limited by where they come from. According to the supplied release information, the single climbed from No. 85 to No. 61 on the chart within days of its debut.
The idea behind the song became clearer during a visit to her hometown of Bratislava, where ADÉLA came across photographs of her mother at 18, posing in front of a wall covered in pop-culture posters. The discovery prompted her to think about the many talented young women whose dreams never receive the recognition they deserve.
“My grandfather smuggled the posters in from Germany,” she recalls. “It made me think, ‘There are so many beautiful girls with dreams who will never get their flowers like my mom’. I wrote this for her and the billion other bitches who are probably cooler than me.”
That sentiment connects the album’s personal reflections to a wider story about ambition, opportunity and the desire to be seen. ADÉLA’s pursuit of pop stardom is central to PRIMA, but so is her awareness of the experiences and people that have shaped her along the way.
Across its 13 tracks, PRIMA introduces an artist willing to experiment with sound and image while documenting her own development in real time. With its mix of muscular production, intimate storytelling and playful pop references, the album marks a defining step in ADÉLA’s journey towards the career she has long envisioned.
