Photo by Kate Lawlor
Dublin-born artist Pastiche is making the moves towards ‘force-to-be-reckoned-with’ status, a truly compelling pop vice coming out of Ireland. The solo project of Jade Roche, her music pairs audacious attitudes and theatrical flair, all arriving with the power of intense electronic production.
‘Hot Mess Express’ has just dropped, and it’s a punchy storm. Fluorescent synths, smoky vocals, and a floor-filling club vibe, the Alex O’Keefe-produced track explores instability, identity and defiance through a glossy, kaleidoscopic lens.
It feels like it’s built to accompany the night, calling out a fearless, animalistic nature with immaculate delivery. Beneath the service, as with every high-energy banger, is an intimate artist-to-lyrics connection, bringing these big emotions into small, slightly cheeky aphorisms.
In her own words, “Pastiche, for me, is what I always wanted to be as a woman – strong, independent, confident, all the things that I wish I was but that I feel like I’m not.
It’s a song about spiralling, something I tend to do quite often. I get nervous when things are going well, because I know in an instant everything can fly completely off the tracks. I long for stability, comfort and love but that’s not really what you get in this industry or this life. This song represents for me the moment where the chaos catches up with you. Sometimes you really just need to feel out of control to gain that control. I’m in control of being out of control.
‘Hot Mess Express’ is not pretty, it’s unhinged, it’s tongue-in-cheek—but it represents something real: exhaustion, frustration, the pressure to always be okay, to be perfect, the weight we bear just being women. It’s about losing it and owning it at the same time. Sometimes, being a ‘mess’ is the most honest version of yourself—and the most dangerous.”
Listen here:
