Chelsea Jade<\/a> has always felt like an outsider in the music industry. Even after making the voyage to Los Angeles from her isolating home country of New Zealand, Jade\u2019s journey in music has always seemed like something that happened despite her plan, not because of it. She went to art school and dropped out after a year to pursue music. She didn\u2019t quite fit in between the lines of dense art history textbooks, but never really felt at home in the star-studded hustle and bustle of Hollywood. In fact, Jade\u2019s life has been full of paradoxes, and her music makes no exception. Her latest record, Soft Spot<\/em> (out April 29 on Carpark Records<\/a>), is a collection of songs that contain both the effervesce of a summer day and the nihilism of Nietzsche. Her ability to weave dark metaphors and prosaic story telling into the tight confines of ABAB pop song structure is nothing short of genius, and result is, simply put, a record full of bops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrankly, I appreciate the parameters that pop [music] provides,\u201d says Jade. Once the barriers are in place, you can just bounce around inside so freely.\u201d Take her song \u201cOptimist.\u201d At first glance, it sounds like a lovesick infatuation anthem \u2013 \u201cI became an optimist the minute that we touched\/I\u2019m positive it\u2019s love\/I don\u2019t believe in much\/It\u2019s looking up\/\u2018Cuz I became an optimist the minute that we touched.\u201d But if you listen closely, Jade\u2019s lyrics carry a heavier weight. \u201cIt\u2019s about manipulating someone with sex,\u201d explains Jade, \u201cor using them as a salve when you feel affection for them but you don\u2019t know how to maneuver through that honestly, because you have no self-esteem. Does that make sense?\u201d Why, yes, yes it does. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n