Adéla Artistfacts

November 27, 2003
Adéla is a Slovak singer songwriter with a ferociously candid, genre-blurring take on pop, equal parts glossy hyperpop, sleazy electro, and diaristic confession.
Adéla taught herself fluent, accent-free English at age 8 by watching American television shows on repeat, a secret self-improvement project she kept hidden from her family in Slovakia. "I developed this very Americanized view of the world, randomly in the middle of Slovakia, where nobody else thought the same way," she told the Line of Best Fit. Her parents only found out when she was 9 and suddenly started speaking English around the house.
Before pop stardom, Adéla trained as a competitive ballerina, putting in eight-hour daily practices and auditioning for the English National Ballet School in London at age 15. She said the discipline instilled a "competitive, sly mindset."

"I got off on the fact that I was working when everybody else was sleeping," she told The Line of Best Fit, though she eventually walked away from ballet because she "craved freedom and creative expression."
In 2023, Adéla competed on HYBE and Geffen's global talent search The Debut: Dream Academy, the show that eventually formed the K-pop girl group Katseye. She was among the first contestants eliminated. Adéla called the experience "the worst year of my life" and "identity stripping," but chose to stay in Los Angeles and rebuild rather than move back home to Slovakia.
Rather than let her Dream Academy elimination end her career, Adéla turned the fallout into songwriting material. Her single "Machine Girl" directly answers online critics who accused her of being unkind to fellow contestants, with the lyric "Why you comin' at me, baby? Yell at the machine, girl," a jab aimed squarely at the most toxic corners of the show's fandom.
After her Dream Academy elimination, Demi Lovato invited Adéla to the release party for her single "Here All Night." Adéla later opened for Lovato on the singer's It's Not That Deep tour.
Adéla's debut single, "Homewrecked," was inspired by her father's infidelity. She wrote and recorded it in a single day, June 27, 2024, after she met collaborator Liam Benayon at a songwriting camp. Adéla admits the song's revenge fantasy lyrics do not paint her in a flattering light. "Obviously, my first song was about me wanting to kill my dad's mistress. I mean, probably not the right emotion to have. But it's real!" she said.
Adéla stayed close with several of her former Dream Academy competitors, including Katseye member Lara Raj. "We've been bonded forever," she told Cosmopolitan, adding that outsiders often doubt the girls actually like each other, when in reality "the girls really love each other."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

The ReflexDuran Duran

"The Reflex" became a #1 hit for Duran Duran when Nile Rodgers remixed it using a sampler. Simon Le Bon refuses to say what it's about, but says it's "kind of childish song."

What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)Information Society

The Information Society hit "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" samples the voice of Leonard Nimoy (Spock) from an episode of Star Trek.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill MeU2

U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from Batman Forever was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and a Razzie for Worst Original Song.