Adla’s “Catch Feelings” Shines With Cinematic Pop-R&B Warmth, Stunning Falsetto, And Beautiful Emotional Truth
- 🌟 Miles Carter
- 5 hours ago
- 8 min read
By: Miles Carter
Adla Turns “Catch Feelings” Into A Cinematic, Soulful Pop-R&B Moment Filled With Stunning Vocals, Emotional Truth, And Radiant Heart.
We got together with Adla for an exciting interview to delve into the stories and happenings behind the making of this latest release and learn more about the artist in "The Cage" Digital Magazine and we are excited to share it with you!
Begin Interview:
The Cage: Hello Adla, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more excited to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
We loved "Catch Feelings"! The pop-R&B energy is absolutely exhilarating, and your vocals pull listeners in right away. The emotional message, stunning falsetto, and beautifully intertwined delivery make the song feel exciting, heartfelt, and completely captivating.
Q. When writing "Catch Feelings," did you have one specific person in mind, or was the song inspired by a collection of experiences and emotions that came together to shape the story?
A. “Catch Feelings” definitely came from a real place. It was inspired by one specific connection, but the more I wrote it, the more I realized it was also about a universal feeling, which is that moment when you stop resisting emotion and finally allow yourself to fall into it.
I wanted the song to feel like the beginning of something. Not just the beginning of love, but the beginning of becoming softer, braver, and more alive because of love. A lot of songs talk about catching feelings like it is something dangerous or embarrassing, but I wanted to flip that idea. To me, catching feelings can be beautiful. It can be healing. It can be that moment when another person makes the world feel more vivid.
There are little memories and emotional details hidden in the song, but I also wanted listeners to hear themselves in it. I wanted it to feel like driving with the windows down, singing under the moon, remembering someone’s laugh, or realizing that a small moment became important without you even noticing.
Q. As both a recording artist and an educator, how rewarding is it to teach music from the perspective of someone actively creating and releasing original work? What does it mean to help guide the next generation as they begin their own artistic journeys?
A. Teaching music while also actively creating and releasing my own work is incredibly meaningful to me because I am not only teaching theory or technique from a book. I am living the process every day. I know what it feels like to be excited, insecure, inspired, blocked, brave, disappointed, and proud. That makes me more human as a teacher.
When I teach, I want my students to understand that music is not only about playing the right notes. It is about communication. It is about confidence. It is about having the courage to express something honestly. I love helping students discover that they have their own voice, even when they are beginners.
Being an artist also makes me more aware of how important encouragement is. One comment, one teacher, one moment of belief can truly change the way a young musician sees themselves. I want my students to feel that music belongs to them, not just to people who seem naturally perfect at it. I want them to feel that their sensitivity, their curiosity, and their individuality are actually strengths.
Q. "Catch Feelings" has an incredibly radio-ready appeal. Part of what makes it so impressive is that it feels instantly familiar while still sounding fresh and unique. Who did you work with on this release, or was this something you created on your own? What led you to that method, and did you know it would turn out this good?
A. “Catch Feelings” started with me and my own emotional world. I wrote the song from a very personal place, but I knew I wanted the production to elevate it into something that felt cinematic, soulful, and radio-ready. I worked with producer Corey “Chorus” Gibson, who really helped bring the track to life and give it that polished, warm, R&B-pop energy.
I think what made the process special was that the song had intimacy from the beginning, but the production gave it movement and confidence. I wanted it to feel emotional, but not heavy. Romantic, but not fragile. Something you could feel in your chest, but also play loud in the car.
Did I know it would turn out this good? Truthfully, I believed in the song, but I also think every release teaches you something. When you are creating, you are always hoping the emotion translates. Hearing the final version for the first time was a beautiful moment because it felt like the song had grown into the world I imagined for it.
Q. Your sound balances high-energy pop sensibilities with genuine emotional depth in a way that feels refreshing and distinctive. What experiences, influences, or creative decisions led you toward developing this musical style?
A. I think my sound comes from the different worlds I grew up in. I am from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I grew up surrounded by a lot of soul, rock, emotion, and storytelling. Then I moved to the United States when I was 18, studied music, performed, wrote, and absorbed so many different influences. Now I live in Malta, which has also shaped me because it gave me space to rebuild myself and my artistry in a new way.
Musically, I have always been drawn to artists who can combine vocal power with emotional truth. Alicia Keys, Toni Braxton, Lauryn Hill, H.E.R., Yebba, Ne-Yo, Brian McKnight and many others shaped the way I think about performance. I love music that feels polished but still human. I love when a song has a strong hook, but underneath it there is something vulnerable.
I think my creative instinct is to make songs that feel beautiful and emotionally intelligent at the same time. I want the production to feel modern, but I want the emotion to feel timeless. I am very inspired by the space between pop, indie, R&B, soul, and singer-songwriter music, because that is where I feel I can be both powerful and honest.
Q. Looking ahead, what would you consider the next major milestone in your career? Would it be a major-label partnership, a world tour, a festival headline performance, or is there another achievement that means even more to you?
A. All of those things would be incredible, of course! A major-label partnership, a world tour, and major festival stages are dreams I definitely hold close. But for me, the next true milestone is building a body of work that fully represents who I am.
“Catch Feelings” is the beginning of that chapter. I am working toward a larger project I won’t name yet, but it will be about transformation, love, identity, and turning emotional experiences into something golden. I want every song to feel like part of a world. I want listeners to feel like they are not just hearing singles, but entering a cohesive story.
The milestone that means the most to me right now is becoming undeniable as an artist. I want to grow into the kind of artist who can move people deeply, perform with excellence, and build a real community around the music. If the industry opportunities come from that, I would be immensely grateful and blessed. But the foundation has to be the art itself.
Q. Your journey from Sarajevo to the United States and now Malta is fascinating. How have these different places influenced your music and artistic identity? Is there one location that has had the greatest impact on your career, and were there any challenges that came with relocating that ultimately shaped you as an artist?
A. Each place gave me a different part of myself.
Sarajevo gave me my emotional foundation. Bosnia is a place with so much history, resilience, pain, humor, beauty, and soul. Growing up there made me sensitive to stories. It made me understand that music can carry memory, identity, and survival. As the country is still recovering from the war that happened in the ‘90s, music became one of the ways people come together in one room, where all the differences are insignificant.
The United States gave me courage and ambition. I moved there at 18, studied music, performed, and learned how to dream bigger. It pushed me to take myself seriously as an artist. I was exposed to so many sounds and creative possibilities, and I think that period really expanded my understanding of what I could become.
Malta gave me reinvention. It is where I started to reconnect with my original music in a more serious way. It is where I released “Catch Feelings” and began building this next chapter of my career. Relocating definitely is not always easy. You lose familiar versions of yourself every time you move, and I had a very hard time going through that. But in that discomfort, you also discover what stays true no matter where you are.
I do not think one place shaped me more than the others. I think the artist I am now exists because of the contrast between all three.
Q. Who has been the biggest inspiration in your life when it comes to creating the music you make today?
A. My biggest inspiration has always been emotional truth. I am inspired by people, by love, by heartbreak, by transformation, by the small moments that somehow stay with you for years.
Artistically, I have always looked up to musicians who make vulnerability feel powerful. Alicia Keys has been a huge influence because of the way she connects piano, voice, soul, and storytelling. Toni Braxton influenced me vocally and emotionally because there is so much depth and ache in her delivery. I am also inspired by artists who are not afraid to be poetic, spiritual, or cinematic in the way they write.
But on a deeper level, I think my life itself inspires me. Moving countries, starting over, loving deeply, losing things, rebuilding, performing, teaching, and constantly trying to become the person I imagine myself to be. That is what feeds the music.
Q. There is an emotional sophistication woven throughout your music that sets it apart from much of today's pop landscape. When listeners discover your sound for the first time, what do you hope stays with them?
A. Most of all, I hope they feel seen.
I hope they hear my music and feel like emotion is not something they have to simplify. Love can be joyful and complicated. Confidence can exist next to vulnerability. Healing can still hurt. I want my songs to give people permission to feel deeply without feeling weak for it.
When someone discovers my sound for the first time, I want them to remember the feeling. The tone of the voice, the warmth of the piano, the cinematic atmosphere, the honesty in the lyrics. I want them to feel like they entered a world that was intimate but still big enough for their own memories.
More than anything, I want my music to stay with people the way certain songs stayed with me growing up… Like a companion, like a mirror, like something that understood you before you had the words.
The Cage: Adla, thank you so much! We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.
End Interview
