It’s easy to pretend pop music is just about sugar and shimmer. Easy to assume it’s all about catchy hooks, glossy production, maybe a dance move or two. But then you meet someone like Amelie Jat—an artist who whips up the sweetness, sets the table, and still finds time to choreograph the afterparty.

There’s a whole generation of young pop voices trying to punch their way through the algorithm, but Jat’s already sashaying past them with a mixing spoon in one hand and a Top 10 charting single in the other.

photo by Nicole Osrin

Born in Hong Kong, raised on rhythm (literally—she was drumming by age three), Amelie didn’t wait around for someone to hand her a career. She built it. From the bedroom-pop roots of her early work to the full-throttle performance energy of her live shows in 2025, she’s been steadily sculpting her version of what pop can be. And the result? It’s sticky. It’s sweet. It’s got punch. It’s “BUTTER.”

Yeah, the new single drips with charm—retro synths, hooks that slap, vocals smoother than your ex’s excuses—and a sense of fun that’s actually earned. Think: Maisie Peters with a sugar rush. Sabrina Carpenter if she had a baking show. “BUTTER” lands with the confidence of an artist who knows exactly what she’s serving—and why people keep coming back for seconds.

She’s got the right collaborators too. With the remix package already out—featuring heavyweights like Until Dawn and Liam Keegan—it’s clear this release never aimed to be a one-off. This is a full campaign, with layers, ambition, and enough momentum to keep fans spinning tracks until the end of summer. A season. A whole mood. And behind it is a 20-something singer-songwriter-dancer who moves like she has ten clones working overtime behind the scenes—yet still makes it look like a party.

And honestly, it would’ve made total sense if we couldn’t get a moment with her. Amelie’s schedule is chaos in heels — shows, shoots, baking entire music videos into existence, planning a UK/US tour… the girl is in full motion. But somehow, in the middle of all that glitter and grind, we made it happen. We got to talk — about ‘BUTTER,’ about growing up, about turning messy feelings into melodies, and about what’s coming next for an artist who’s clearly in her main character era.

Here’s what Amelie Jat had to say.

photo by Nicole Osrin

Hi Amelie, oh I’m so glad to finally talk with you and get to know you better. But first — let’s talk about the new single ‘BUTTER’, a song that literally sets the mood. It’s like you press play — and the sun comes out, even in London. ‘BUTTER’ has a vibe that feels too deliberate, too visually sharp for it to be “just a song”. It radiates with this image: your voice, the kitchen, the girls, something sweet, the dancing — and it all works because it comes across as real. So I’m curious: when you sit down to write a track like this, does a picture come to you first — a scene, a mood, a color — or does it all start from one line, one chord, and then grow into that whole pop-cinematic experience? 

Hi! I’m SO happy to be here, thank you for wanting to chat with me! Just wanted to say that that ‘even in London’ comment was soo on point, it really made me giggle. I’m incredibly excited that BUTTER is out in the world for everyone to manifest their hot girl summer to, it’s really just about having a bit of fun and feeling good about yourself, which is SUCH an important thing I think when it comes to making the most of life. The process of creating this track was actually quite a unique one, I usually start with a lyric that I’ve written in my head during a mundane every-day moment and then sit down to write the song, but this one has such a different origin story – I was book-shopping on the Waterstones website for something new to read (I know, super random) when I scrolled past the book called ‘Butter’ by Asako Yuzuki – don’t get me wrong, I’m fully aware that the synopsis/genre of that book is MILES away from the energy of my song, crime/thriller/psychological fiction couldn’t be further away from girly-pop summer dance track – but in that moment I literally just thought to myself: a song called butter would be SO FUN. And immediately my head started spinning with ideas, a light yellow aesthetic / colour palette, a kitchen, cookies and pastries, a flirty chorus started forming in my mind right there and then. I literally visualised the entire music video in my head. The chorus was practically fully formed already. I couldn’t predict that ‘butter yellow’ as a colour was about to become an ‘in’ thing this year, that was a complete coincidence! But I just knew at that moment that I wanted to write my soundtrack of the summer – BUTTER: a spicy, teasing pop song using a metaphor of handling butter that encourages people to feel empowered in themselves this summer.

When you watch the video for ‘BUTTER’, the first thing that grabs you is the atmosphere. It’s a whole world that smells like vanilla and plays retro-pop. I can see you’re not hiding behind a persona — you live in it. You let us peek into a space where music doesn’t stop at the studio, it carries into daily life. And it’s on that contrast that I want to ask: where does the line fall for you? Where does stage Amelie end and just Amelie begin — the one who lives in London, wears pajamas, writes tracks in the kitchen, and sometimes forgets she’s a cover star? 

I’m going to be so for real with you – I still wake up each day and feel disbelief that this is my life, and that I’m lucky enough to do what I love most as a career. I think it’s not only healthy to separate versions of myself, but also natural. We as human beings tend to show different sides of ourselves to different people in our lives anyways, and I don’t think artist persona VS everyday persona strays far from this concept. I do actually forget sometimes that I’m a ‘brand’, not just a person. But I like trying to be as candid as I can even as Amelie Jat the artist, my social media is very much full of ‘everyday’ posts and not just promotional content. I want to be a real person people can connect with, relate to and understand. So the line is there, but I try to make it as thin as possible, because at the end of the day I’m just a girl. 

“The butter metaphor was never just about butter.” – Amelie Jat

You’ve been at the drums since you were three. Be honest — when you hear a bad drum sequence in someone else’s track, do you instantly want to re-record it yourself? 

Haha, yes and no! I picked up the drums when I was 3 years old, but I’ll admit I’m a bit rusty at it right now and wouldn’t feel like I could play well enough to professionally record parts, it’s very much a just-for-fun thing for me nowadays. I swapped over to focus more on orchestral percussion when I was about 7 years old, so I’m a lot more proficient in playing instruments like the marimba, vibraphone, timpani etc. when I’m not writing songs on guitar or keys. However I will admit that being trained in percussion has really benefited my pop career, even just things like being concise with rhythms and specific/precise when it comes to metrical aspects of songwriting.

Listen, I’ll just say it — the upcoming July issue with you on the cover is shaping up to be one of the best we’ve had. It’s visually striking, but it also feels like you’re not forcing anything — the image breathes. So here’s what I’m wondering: when you create visuals for your releases, is it your comfort  zone — like “yeah, I know how I want to look and I feel good in it”? Or do you go from the music and think, “I want to try something totally new, let’s experiment”? 

I have my incredible photographer Nicole Osrin to thank for these visuals – we worked together when deciding the aesthetic / energy we wanted to highlight for this shoot, and every shoot we’ve done together. We’re always very much on the same wavelength and her photos have never ever let me down, I couldn’t imagine not working with her! For me, the visual always has to match the music, otherwise it makes no sense at all and doesn’t work. So each different song will have its own visual identity as well as its sonic one, but at the same time I think there’s an overarching coherent visual concept that represents me as an artist, and I’m almost always very decided and confident in what that looks like right from the get-go. 

You have this light but super precise aesthetic that’s impossible to miss — especially when it comes to clothes. So I have to ask: do you come up with all your looks yourself? Or is there someone you hop on FaceTime with to decide which tee fits the track’s vibe today? And in general — what’s the one piece in your wardrobe right now that you can’t do a single show without?

I do choose all my outfits myself, but not without the help of my mom! When it comes to styling, she’s been integral to every music video shoot / photoshoot or live show, and I’m so glad that this is something that we can do together. Right now it’s very much, corsets, cami tops, and/or mesh tops. But the two things (I hope it’s ok that I couldn’t just pick one) I couldn’t do a single shoot or show without would have to be my platform shoes (because I’m really short!) and accessories: I feel like the chunky silver necklaces/earrings/rings have become such a staple, signature look now. I mostly wear items that are designed and crafted by a brand called Luckwalker (based in Hong Kong), which was founded and created by my Dad’s cousin, he makes all the pieces himself and has even designed/crafted exclusive, limited pieces just for the AJ brand (like the silver guitar necklaces available on the AJ store!), and the look is actually such an essential part of the Amelie Jat image now. 

photo by Nicole Osrin

I looked at the list of people you’ve worked with — there’s Until Dawn, Liam Keegan. And I went: wait, those guys did remixes for Ava Max, for SIA, for Carly Rae — and now they’re remixing Amelie Jat. You’ve walked this path step by step — from bedroom pop to touring, to working with people whose portfolios have tens of millions of streams. Was there a moment when you caught yourself thinking — “okay, I’ve moved into a different league, new rules now, time to rethink my goals, scale up the dreams”?

Yes, the dreams/goals notes page on my phone is constantly changing. It’s very strange and bittersweet actually to think about how these milestone goals have changed over the years, like at 16 this was all I wanted to do, and now I’m here I’m like, well what next? I have to continuously readjust, recalibrate – and it’s such a blessing that I ‘have to’. It’s nostalgic, and I’m just grateful and amazed that I’m even living this dream as a reality in the first palace, but now the next goal is a much bigger step/level up from when I was 16. It’s a continuous process of rewiring my thinking and challenging myself to reach even bigger and brighter heights – I just want to keep evolving, bettering myself as a person, an artist, a performer. I believe there is always room to grow. 

London, Hong Kong, touring in the US — when you’re on the road, do you have something like a ritual: a track, a playlist, a thing you never head to the airport without? 

Actually, funnily enough I’ve recently added a new item to my travel ritual/packing list: a book from Bernard Knight’s Crowner John mystery series. For anyone who doesn’t know this fantastic book series, it’s essentially set in 12th Century Medieval England and the protagonist is a coroner called John de Wolfe who was a former knight of the Crusades, and he goes around the county of Devon to solve these various complicated mysteries or murders. It’s very niche, I know, but I honestly haven’t been able to go anywhere without one of these books since I’ve started reading them!

“Performing is like an out-of-body experience. And I’m addicted to it.” – Amelie Jat

A lot of artists say live shows are stressful and hard to control. But you say the stage is your goal. What is it about performing that you enjoy so much you just want more of it? 

There is nothing quite like the feeling of being on a stage, it’s almost like an out-of-body experience for me. My absolute favourite thing about doing a show is seeing strangers in the crowd sing my lyrics back at me – the fact that songs I’ve written about my life have even made an impression on other people’s lives is crazy to me, so when I see people who I don’t know shouting the words back at me it just makes me feel so heartened to know that I’ve reached people with my music. 

You’ve already gone from pop-punk to dream-pop. Is there a genre you haven’t allowed yourself yet but really want to — like reggaeton with drumcore? 

Oh my goodness there are SO many, I can’t even begin to tell you all the various routes I want to explore with my music – without giving too much away, I think there will definitely be songs in my future discography that are combinations/mixtures of multiple genres. I never want to be boxed into just one category for the rest of my career. A huge part of composing for me is to challenge myself, so I sometimes treat it like an exercise to create something I’ve never tried to make before. 

We know you’re already working on new releases. Let’s imagine we’re having this same conversation a year from now. Where do you see yourself: more radio hits, more touring, or a full 20-track album saga?

This time next year… ok so I would be 23, which means I would have less than a year to reach my biggest milestone goal I’ve set for myself – to play an arena – so I’d hopefully be opening for artists that are at a level of their career where they might be playing venues like that. A BBC radio play would be amazing. Another top 10 in the charts too – although I’m already absolutely blown away that I’ve had 2 singles that have been in the top 10! I’ve recently founded a video production enterprise alongside my go-to videographer Elliot Wallis, who has shot all of my music videos from Therapy to BUTTER, and it’s called Syncrinox Studios – it’s a budget video production company that aims to help

UK bands/artists turn their creative vision into reality, which in this day and age tends to be very cost-demanding and inaccessible to a lot of rising up-and-coming artists. So hopefully this time next year Syncrinox Studios will have been able to support and help a lot of artists make their visuals and further their careers. I’d also like to be dedicating my time to writing my fifth album (my 3rd commercial studio album, as I self-released my first two when I was 17/18 and still in the last two years of school). And of course – I hope we’ll be having this same conversation a year from now!

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