The show must go on

The final chapter Pt. II

Here we go. I can't believe we got to this point. I'm actually crying right now. This truly is the last chapter, I promise. It's also the longest chapter of the whole story. So let me know what you think and enjoy. Thank you for everything ❤️

Jade POV

...And so it began.

What followed was one of the most stressful, but also most exciting times we have ever experienced in our band history. The interview at Captial was followed by countless others on the same day and this repeated day after day for weeks on end. We did international promo for the lead single, the upcoming album and the band's comeback. Fortunately, our hard work was rewarded as the single became our next number one and would remain so for several weeks.

But there was not much time to rejoice. All the promo work, all the travelling across the globe, the jet lag, the numerous dates, acoustic gigs, radio tours, talk shows, interviews. Simply everything you can do. The whole thing. All that made us sleep an average amount of three hours a night tops. And I noticed it, I noticed it after the very first week. My body was nowhere near what it used to be. It was given time to heal, but I wondered, especially during those exhausting weeks, if it would ever get back to full capacity, or if I would have to live with it in the future. But looking at the schedule we had chosen for ourselves, I gritted my teeth and decided to push through.

By the time we shot the music video for the next single, we all were very exhausted. As it seemed, I wasn't the only one who was getting used to the more relaxed life, without all the deadline pressure. But the next single to be released was just as important to us as the first. It had a very special meaning to it. It was also the last song we wrote for the album. We knew the album was already good, but it was missing the last final track that would make it perfect. And so, with the help of Kamille, Rise was born. The song that sums up our comeback and my recovery in one. The song that tells the world that we're not done, that we're still very much here and that we don't plan on leaving anytime soon. That we will come back stronger than ever. We were so convinced of the song's message that we were about to name the whole album after it. But another title was just that tiny bit more meaningful.

Accordingly, the video had to be epic. We wanted to revive the vibes of Salute, but we just didn't have the time for a big choreography. So for the most part we marched in epic slow-motion shots dressed in black uniform-like outfits and showed ourselves as generals of the music industry. The message was clear. We wanted to declare war on anyone who tried to get us down.

We didn't personally write the third and fourth single Sweet Melody and Confetti. But when we heard the tracks, we quickly realised that these songs not only had to go on the album, but were destined to be singles. Perrie was particularly adamant. After much discussion, she made this clear in an unfamiliar harsh way.

"If Sweet Melody doesn't become the third single, I'm leaving the band. Honestly, we're stupid if we don't use this banger properly."

No one wanted to test her, no one wanted to contradict her and deep down we all felt the same. We trusted her, we pushed for Sweet Melody to become single number three and we were rewarded. For the first time in our band's history we had two number ones in one album. It was incredible.

Confetti didn't get number one, but did extremely well for a fourth single. The album now promised to be a huge success before it was even released. The most success we've ever had.