Slovakian singer Adéla first debuted as part of Dream Academy – a competitive Netflix reality show intended to kickstart the narrative around a new ‘global girl group’ that would become known as Katseye. There’s some degree of irony, then, that Adéla’s abrupt and controversial elimination in the show’s early stages would inadvertently end up creating the most compelling narrative of all: a pop wannabe-turned-scorned maverick determined to burn down the industry from the inside. 

You see, even at just 22 years old, few have felt the pressures of stardom as much as Adéla. Born in Bratislava in 2003, and with an adolescence spent between Vienna and London in intensive ballet training, the pop acolyte has spoken extensively about how she idolised American pop stars like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga as a child, teaching herself English through Hannah Montana and online pop content. But, when she finally made a pilgrimage to the States at 18 to join Dream Academy, the shine was short-lived. Despite repeatedly ranking as one of the strongest contestants, when the series made a surprise turn into a fan-powered reality show, Adéla was the first to go, eliminated with the fewest votes.

After a short break in 2023, Adéla soon began constructing her own career out of the fragmented dreams that the academy left. First came “Superscar”, a climactic pop cut that sees Adéla define a ‘superstar’ not by their perceived perfection, but rather the scars and the insecurities they accumulated along the way. More recently arrived The Dare-assisted “KGB” the opening track of Adéla’s debut album, Prima, released today, which, in rebellious, distorted vocals, retraces her journey up to this point: “Just a little European girl, was plotting on my rise / Eighteen, immigrated (Yeah), a star in the making (Yeah) […] I’m like a spy, I studied this shit, call me the K-G-Bitch.” 

Indeed, Prima’s greatest strength is its storytelling, charting Adéla’s biopic-worthy narrative to becoming a pop star on her own terms, exposing unfair industry practices (‘annoying old white men holding the keys to my future’) and affirming her commitment to supporting her family back home along the way. And the real kicker is, for all of Dream Academy’s ‘global’ branding, in simply telling her story Adéla stands for a profound decentring of stardom herself. She represents the multitudes of young boys and girls around the world that grew up idolising an American pop culture that was just out of reach, a symbol that those who previously would’ve fallen short of the music industry’s narrow standards might just have a chance after all. As “KGB” so deftly articulates, Adéla is pop’s double-agent, and I daresay Netflix wishes they could’ve scripted it themselves.

Below, we rank the five best tracks on Adéla’s stellar debut album, Prima.

5. “MARIJUANA”

In the midst of all her pop double agent responsibilities, it’s refreshing to see Adéla simply taking a late-night ride with a lover and becoming wrapped up in the moment in fleeting, sub-two-minute track “Marijuana”. Set to kaleidoscopic and layered vocals that wash over the listener much like the hedonism Adela is describing in her lyrics, the track takes its cue from the more electronic and contemporary cadre of pop stars like Charli xcx and Caroline Polachek. (SPM) 

4. “HITACHI” 

In the maximalist villain-to-hero origin story that is Prima, “Hitachi” is somewhat of a meander – depicting Adéla in the throes of a failing relationship over minimalist piano chords. Her metaphors here, however, are as visceral as ever, from “We couldn't even stop to turn the lights off / Now you're sleepin’ next to me with your clothes on” and Adéla seemingly suggesting a threesome in the futile hopes that it might save her and her partner’s sex life. If the rest of Prima masterfully packages Adéla’s journey so far, then “Hitachi” confirms that there’s a lot more stellar storytelling where that came from. (SPM)

3. “AIN’T IN LA” 

There was a time when to “make it” meant you had to up and leave wherever you came from and try to find your way in a big city. But now, mainly thanks to the internet, we are increasingly seeing more and more of the talent tucked away in parts of the world that have been ignored globally. In July, when Adéla dropped “Ain’t in LA”, the third single from Prima, her chant singing “The baddest bitches ain't in LA” kickstarted a trend online. Over the past month, people from across the world started posting videos using the song with a version of “It can’t always be in LA, someone has to hold it down in [enter small town here]”. Originally written for her mother, who grew up with pop culture posters Adéla’s grandfather had smuggled into communist Czechoslovakia from Germany, the song has become an anthem for people in places far from the glamour of Hollywood. The cherry on top is that the song marks the first time in history a Slovak artist has charted on the Billboard Hot 100. (HD) 

2. “NICOLE KIDMAN” 

If you’re familiar with The Provacteur, Adéla’s debut EP, it will come as no surprise that the comfortable sense of feminine sensuality she teased on that project appears on this album. On “Nicole Kidman”, she channels her inner embodied movie star as she sings “every single night, I pray that my tits are sitting right”. Written after a Golden Globes afterparty, the track naturally references some of Kidman’s biggest features: Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge! and Halina Reijn’s Babygirl In the chorus, she sings, “I fly out, fuck up another stage / Babygirl in control, I feel like Nicole”. It’s a sexy, hazy, affirmation-like track that, as the second song on the album, gives a good insight into the sound and energy of the project as a whole. (HD)

1. “THERAPY”

No movie is complete without the low-point, the moment of reckoning that shows what’s at stake for the plucky protagonist – and sombre, piano-backed track “Therapy” is that moment. Arriving as the penultimate cut behind the powerful mission statement that is “Ain’t In LA”, “Therapy” feels painfully and vividly real, featuring Adéla literally singing the line “I can’t sing”, lamenting “old white men” record execs gatekeeping her future, and delivering lyrics that cross bars and trail off as if she is quite literally coming up with them on the spot. Few pop cuts in history invite as deeply into a star’s inner-world as “Therapy” does. (SPM)