Fresh from rehearsal, Adéla slides into her car for a chat with Rachel Sennott, her hair bright pink and her long nails shining. They flash expressively as she talks. This month, the singer debuts her new album Prima, named by none other than Sennott herself. The two met through Sennott’s boyfriend, Blake Slatkin, who is the executive producer on the new album. As such, Sennott not only saw the album come to life step by step, she and Adéla also became good friends along the way. Viewers of Sennott’s I Love LA will also recognize Adéla’s song “FinallyApologizing” from its soundtrack. 

For Adéla, the last three years have been a whirlwind of both exposure and self-discovery. Though she made waves on The Debut: Dream Academy, she’s since created an entire universe for herself to traverse. In crafting singles like “KGB,” “Ain’t in LA,” her EP The Provocateur, and now of course her album Prima, she embraces the powerful, the political, and the personal to tell her own stories. The spotlight is hers alone as she builds a life of pop prominence. 

In her chat with Sennott for V, Adéla is earnest, ambitious, a person starting her life as a star. They talk about stage presence, touring, developing an artistic practice as a person in the public eye, and more.

ADÉLA: Hey, sister.

RACHEL SENNOTT: Hey, pink [hair] is looking fab. 

A: Thanks. Honestly, I haven’t been able to refresh her. Need to get a refresh. Need to take my 14-hour bleach day to refresh her. 

RS: I finally experienced what Adela experiences when I went blonde. 

A: Your hair looks fabulous.

RS: It’s finally settled in, but the first few days were tough.

A: It’s beautiful. Are you shooting?

RS: Yes, I’m in my little office on the lot. 

A: That’s awesome. Need to be on a lot one day. Need to live that life one day.

RS: Come visit. We’ll ride in a golf cart. It’s gonna be perfect.

A: Are you kidding me? You have a golf cart? Need that.

RS: It’s sick.

A: I keep talking about you, Rachel, because you named my album. So every interview I do about my album, I talk about you.

RS: Oh my god, I’m honored. I’m so invested. I’m obsessed. We first met on FaceTime.

A: With Blake [Slatkin], who is my executive producer and great friend and collaborator. 

RS: And he’s my boyfriend and in a way an executive producer as well. He’s an executive producer of 

A: Of your life. 

RS: Yeah. We got to become friends in such a cool way where I would come home at the end of the day and they would be in the studio working late, especially because my days are usually earlier. I come in in my pajamas, and check in. I’m like, can I hear a little bit of the bounce?

A: Yes. We literally made it at Blake’s house, and so she would always be there. She was the first ears on every song we made. Blake would tell me, Rachel loves this one, and I trust Rachel’s taste wholeheartedly. Honestly, I don’t even play the songs for anybody until they’re done. So , the only feedback I had was what I feel about it, what Blake feels about it, and Dylan Brady [of 100 Gecs] and everybody who wrote the songs, and then Rachel.

RS: I was freaking out every time. I literally said to Blake, this is my dream, the new killer pop queen is [recording] and I’m getting to hear the samples early?!

A: It was so cute. Then you put “FinallyApologizing” in I Love LA which was my first thing. It was so, so sweet and I I love the show obviously. You are fucking dope. I was talking about it also today, I got asked. It was randomly brought up. They didn’t even know that we’re sisters, if you will. And they were like, ‘how is it being in LA? I watched I Love LA,’ and let me tell you about I Love LA, I love Rachel Sennott, and she’s the most talented queen ever.

RS: Oh my God! Well, I feel that’s a good transition into I’ve prepared questions for you. I’m locked in. I’m in journalist mode. My entire feed yesterday and today, “Ain’t in LA.” The music video is so fucking sick and moving, too. I wanted to hear what it was like to film that, to get to go home to Slovakia and be with your mom and your sister? Was that something you knew when you made the song you were gonna do, or how did that music video come about?

A: Well, we made the song, and it wasn’t supposed to be a single, but I felt, oh my God, this song is so special. I remember both me and [“Ain’t in LA” co-songwriter] Theron [Thomas] were like, this song is it because it says something that no other songs are saying right now. It’s also bringing back this 2014, 13– I know everybody’s saying 2016, but I think Gen Alpha wasn’t alive back then.

RS: Yeah, they’re like 2016, when I was two. They want to be around for it. 

A: [laughs] Yeah. But I think it’s actually this 2014, 2013 ish, and I was listening to that a lot. I was born in 2003, so I was 11 in 2014, 10-11, and I remember that was truly when my taste started shaping. That was when I was falling in love with certain artists, and there was a me thing, even if my family didn’t like it, even if my mom didn’t like it, that was like, oh I think this is cool. A big thing was wanting to put out music I would have thought was cool back then, that little me would have thought was sick. So we made the song, and I’m obsessed with it. No one thought it should be a single, Blake included, no shade.

RS: He didn’t get it.

A: Also, I have to say the demo of it is fucking terrible. I didn’t have a voice for three months because I was chronically sick, and he was like, “You sound like shit on it.”

RS: I thought the demo was the girls. I was like, it’s hitting for me. I was fighting for it. 

A: Right, but honestly, credits to Blake. He just wants me to be great, and the demo did sound like shit. But I was like, just you wait, I’ll cook, I’ll cook, I’ll cook, and then we cooked. I was like, okay, do you see the vision? He started to see the vision, and then no one really thought it should be a single, so I was like, okay, but let me test waters, perform it on the Demi [Lovato] tour, did that, and then I saw people were fucking with it, and I was like, I knew it, I knew that this vibe that I needed was felt by more people. Then I was like, we need to make this single. I have a feeling it needs to be a thing, and I go to Slovakia to shoot the music video. Then everybody got on board, and I was like, fuck yeah, thank you guys so much. 

RS: It was crazy seeing you when you were opening for Demi. I feel like opening for someone is challenging in a way because you’re there when people are still coming in, the lights aren’t all off, it’s a different vibe, and I was so impressed with how people know the songs that aren’t even out yet, and are in and drawn, and it’s cool to have that live stage to see what resonates with people.

A: Oh yeah, it’s so real what you’re saying. Sometimes certain cities I would go off and and be like, damn, these people do not know who the fuck I am. It’s quiet. Then by the end of the set or certain songs, I felt even though people don’t know me, it moved them. It’s always nice when what you like connects with the people. Sometimes it doesn’t align but I felt so passionately about the song and that I felt it connected, and I was like, “Wow, okay, I need to follow this because I believe in it,” and I’m so glad I did. And then Blake made the song so much better. He did his thing on the production. We went to Slovakia. My family got to be in the video, my sister and my mom. This is my favorite video I’ve ever made for sure. Chris Horan, who’s my creative director and stylist, we had a strong vision for it. Then Fred [Gervais], the director, killed it. He understood what I wanted so well, and we had all these cool references. Chris then brought in the Missy Elliot reference, where Alyson Stoner is dancing for her, and he’s like, “We haven’t had kids dancing for so long. I was like, “I know. And then I was like , “We should put them in folk clothing. We were throwing shit at the wall, and I love the video. It’s literally my favorite video, and it’s funny because I think this might be the video where I’m serving the least cunt, if you will. 

RS: But at the end, in the car.

A: Yeah.

RS: It’s emotional, and then it’s last-minute serving cunt, right at the end.

A: But I think that’s why I like it because it feels emotional, and it’s still sick. It’s a sick concept. I don’t feel I’m necessarily trying to serve cunt. It is what it is. 

A: The music video so encapsulates what the song is about, and it is moving. Every choice feels meaningful. When you’re talking about Chris or with the director, I feel like you have such a clear vision for what you want to do and what you want to say. How do you find people who are good collaborators for you? Has it happened gradually, or how do you connect with someone like that?

A: Chris is my closest creative collaborator because we work with different directors for every video.

RS: Yeah

A: But he is the through line. Me and him are the through line. He found me super early on. My third ever music video he styled. He was like, “I’m gonna do it. I believe in you.” It was so low budget. I think even for “Ain’t in LA,” at first they were going to different directors, and they were giving me these treatments, and I had to have a conversation with Chris. It’s all about communication. I was like, you need to make people understand why things feel the way that they feel, and the more we talked about it, he was like, that makes so much sense, completely. And then he started pulling the right references. Yeah, and then he started pulling the right directors and telling the directors what we want and seeing which one understands it and encapsulates it? It starts with me and then Chris. I tell Chris, I like these colors, this vibe, these references, and then he pulls even more. He grounds it out and makes a real thing, which is so awesome. I think a lot of stylists obviously put you in cool clothes and you look cool and whatever. But I think he cares about the story in a look, in a video, in everything. When you’re a pop star, you can look at it as ‘it’s not that deep,’ but you have the opportunity to make everything mean something. I was wearing this traditional Slovak belt and this flower crown that he put me in that has all these traditional Slovak ribbons. The kids in the folk clothing. The fact that he understands that, that’s important, and how to make it also cool and read to an audience, he is very special. I am so grateful for him.

RS: Something you said that resonates with me is so much of the creative process is communicating and sometimes I’m like, can you see what I’m thinking in my head, and it’s like…

A: Yeah, they can’t.

RS: Then sometimes when you express it, you actually work out things, or you’re actually hearing that out loud.

A: Yes, and on a lot of things, I think honestly helpful to to go through bad versions. It’s helpful to see bad mood boards and be like, this is not what I want because of this, this, and that.There are so many versions of that video, too, where so many people hear Eastern Europe and they go ‘gray brutalist building.’ We had so many treatments like that, and I was like, “This is exactly not what I want.” The nos are as important as the yeses because they lead you there.

RS: I wanted to ask you because you’re rehearsing for tour right now–

A: For Lolla[palooza]

RS: Exciting. Seeing you on stage, I was like, I know that girl, but also that’s a totally different… you got into performance mode. Do you have a routine? Is there any ritual that you do that gets you into that mode?

A: Everybody’s a little bit different. I like to be locked in before a performance. I don’t. I know there’s some people that like to be super hype and whatever. For tour, I did all my own makeup and I found that helpful because it was a meditative thing. I’m basically myself, but I do find that something happens before I walk on stage where it’s time to turn it on, and literally, it’s like okay, okay, okay, and then I see the people, and I’m like okay, I got it. This is what I have to do. I understand. It’s a thing that comes over [me], like a Sasha Fierce vibe. Okay, I’m on stage. I’m Adéla, but not Adéla Jergová. 

RS: Yeah, it’s so funny. I’m the same in terms of quiet before something scary, in a car to an event, which is scary. All I have to do is stand there, but still, I’m completely different.

A: I do the same thing, and it’s so wild because I wish I was one of those people that could be like, yes, let’s go. Sometimes I feel bad because I see other people and they’re so extroverted before these things, but I’m like, I need to literally be [quiet], and then right before I go on stage, I’m like, whoa! I’ll make a joke, and I’m like, okay, we’re doing it. But same thing with me with events. It’s high pressure, and you want to center yourself a little bit.

RS: Yeah. The last thing I wanted to ask you was, you’ve talked about this in interviews, and then also I’ve heard you talk about wanting the album to sound what it feels to be a 22-year-old girl. I’m 30, but I remember how visceral it feels, and all the songs feel visceral. Being that age, there’s so many things happening. It’s my family, where do I live, my relationship. There’s so many layers, and there’s some days you’re like, I’m this bitch. Some days you’re like, I’m different. What does that sound like to you? Do you feel like you were going for different feelings, or how did you, how did you accomplish that?

A: When we first started writing this album, I had a moment where I was like, “Oh my God, what do people want to hear from me? Is this even gonna be reciprocated? Is it gonna be received well? What do I do?” Because my first EP was one thing, it was about all this pent up rage and it wasn’t truly about me as a person. It was about an experience I had that was very public on a show. I was like, “but it’s time to be myself.” I started to think about all these external factors, and then I talked to Blake about it actually, and Blake was like, you literally need to not do this because what makes you special is the fact that you you don’t give a fuck what people think and you always do what you want to do. I was like, oh word, that is my job as an artist. I’m sure you can relate. There’s so much pressure. And my EP didn’t go crazy, crazy. But as soon as you feel something you’ve created is loved by anybody, immediately the human reaction for some reason is, with the next thing you make, oh my god, are they gonna like this, too? Now there’s eyes on it.

RS: It’s pressure.

A: Yeah, and I’m sure writing season two, you felt maybe more pressure than season one, right? 

RS: Totally, because then people have their impressions which, by the way, is great– they’re interacting with the art, they love it. Then you see stuff that’s like, if this season doesn’t start this, or if she doesn’t, oh my god! If you get caught up in all of that, then you’re working from a place of the outside in, instead of the inside out.

A: Exactly. That almost fueled me with almost a “fuck that.” It filled me with a rage, but not in an angry way. It made me want to be completely myself. “KGB” is such a crazy song, but it’s so my personality. I laugh about the dark things, and it’s exactly about my upbringing, about my story, and it’s like, I can be stupid and make fucking dark jokes about my country’s terrible history and where I’m from, but I can also make a deeper song. “Ain’t in LA,” that’s beautiful and celebrates being from Slovakia and celebrates everybody who’s not from a major city, being like, we can be successful, too. We matter, too. And then I can make songs that are about fucking sex. Sorry, because I like sex! 

RS: Sometimes I’m horny and it’s about sex, y’all.

A: Sometimes I want to fuck. But then there’s songs that where I’m like, man, my sex life sucks and it’s making me sad. And it’s all real.

RS: It’s all in a day’s work.

A: It’s all in a day’s work.

RS: I feel your response to it is so great because I think you’re someone who trusts your instincts, and even with “Ain’t in LA,” you’re like, I’m the one. And that’s I think that’s a beautiful place to be.

A: Thank you. I love you, Rachel. Thank you so much. 

RS: I love you.

A: Thank you for naming the album Prima. It’s the best name ever. 

RS: I saw your post about it. I was like, “Oh my god!” It was so cool to see at the end of the video, too.

A: I will credit you with that for the rest of my life. You are a gem and a creative force, and I can’t wait to see I Love LA, season two. 

This cover story appears in the pages of V162: now available for purchase!

Photography Jack Bridgland

Fashion Anna Trevelyan

Interview Rachel Sennott

Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief Stephen Gan

Makeup Lilly Keys (A-Frame Agency) using MAC Cosmetics

Hair Evanie Frausto (Streeters) using Redken

Manicure Natalie Minerva (Forward Artists) using OPI

Production Wyatt Whitaker (Someday Studio)

Production Manager Bri Plewman

Lighting Director Ryan Hackett

Fashion Market Editor Copelyn Bengel

Set Designer James Rene (Jones Management)

Digital Technician Jake Schmidt

Styling Assistant Damien Lloyd

Hair Assistant Mikel Mitchell

Lighting Assistant Jason Cook

Production Assistants Drew Despres & Jhovanny Esparza

Cinematographer Will Shaw

Location Harvard House Motel