Album is out, tour dates are up, Nicole Kidman is adored. Adéla is killing it. The 22-year-old Slovakian pop star just dropped a new music video that brings us – Gen Z – some peace about pop culture being on the right track.
Midnight Sun summer is over, and here comes Adéla. If the past few months belonged to a certain kind of glossy, nostalgic pop, she seems perfectly ready to take over the next chapter.
PRIMA has arrived, the album is complete, but Ain’t in LA and KGB have been going on for a while, especially with the TikTok trends around Ain’t in LA. The song is much more than a trend, though. It is a celebration of global identity and something that feels particularly generational. Her mom used to hang smuggled posters that her dad brought her from Germany, as Western pop culture was largely banned from slipping into everyday life in Slovakia back then. In the album description on Apple Music, Adéla also refers to it as the spiritual younger sibling of Miley’s 2013 anthem “We Can’t Stop” – a reminder that talent can come from anyone, anywhere, with enough determination and a dream.
ADÉLA instagram story of Ain’t in LA
With PRIMA, she is not just introducing herself as a new pop star – she is showing us exactly what kind of pop star she wants to be. Maybe her upcoming album is going to be one of the best albums of the year?
Louboutin heels, Louboutin cake, Louboutin ballet shoes.
The Nicole Kidman music video – directed by Hannah Lux Davis – arrived with the album today, and the whimsical, provocative singer LOVES the Oscar-winning actress. In her KISS interview yesterday, she explained: “To me she is the embodiment of beauty, glamour and everything that’s good. I just love a talented woman.”
Who wouldn’t agree on that?
ADÉLA – NICOLE KIDMAN MUSIC VIDEO
The video is basically an homage to Nicole Kidman, planting references to some of the actress’ most beloved films – from Moulin Rouge! to Babygirl – while even giving a nod to her iconic AMC ad. There is plenty more to notice. Adéla also shows off her ballet talent again, which weirdly suits her concerts and performances. “Every single night I pray that my tits are sitting right” – and she sings it in both a pixie cut and a bob. She seems to be going through some kind of transition, and, as in previous videos, she comes face-to-face with a version of herself again.
The top comments are appreciating her as well:
“I’m glad you embrace your natural pink hair.”
“Best new artist. Period.”
“3:10 is this a reference to Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad 😭”
Pop stars don’t really get to pretend anymore. We see the campaigns, the choreography, the TikTok strategy, the styling, the teams behind them – sometimes we even see the algorithm doing the work. Adéla seems to know this better than most, and instead of hiding behind the machinery of pop, she plays with it. She has been preparing for this world since she was young, eventually making her own way to LA after being rejected from Pop Star Academy. What came next wasn’t a perfectly packaged arrival, but an artist building her own language around everything that comes with being a pop star.
From opening last spring for Demi Lovato to debuting at Lollapalooza, Adéla will kick off her first-ever headlining tour next week. The trek will bring her across North America, with shows in cities like Toronto, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles and Mexico city. She’ll then head to Europe and the U.K. next year, with shows in Dublin, London, Berlin, Prague, Oslo, Warsaw and more.
She shines as a solo artist – maybe she’s even better off for not succeeding on that TV show.
