THERA launches new era with ‘heartless romance’

Photo Credit: Jirka Kubínyi [from @theTheraOfficial Instagram]

Earlier this year, 19-year-old Czech singer-songwriter THERA was heading out on one of the biggest moments of her life, supporting Jason Derulo at major arenas across the UK and Europe. Now, six months on, THERA is back, stronger and more confident as she prepares to release her sophomore album. Known for her sad pop songs, THERA is entering a new era with a more upbeat, pop-focused sound, starting with the release of her latest single heartless romance. Inspired by the likes of Madison Beer, Tate McRae and Ariana Grande, there’s no stopping this young talent.

We sat down with THERA to discuss the new single and her career so far.

You have your new single, heartless romance, coming out this week on the 18th September. What are you most looking forward to about the song’s release?

Honestly, I think the song in itself, like, I’m very excited to start off this new era, this sophomore album.

There’s a lot of dancing that comes with heartless romance, so I’m very excited for that because I feel like, starting off very young in the music industry, I knew where I wanted to go, but I also didn’t know where I wanted to go at the same time. And now I’ve finally broken my fear of properly dancing, so I’m really, really excited about that.

The single launches a new era for you, where you explore your sound becoming a bit more upbeat and more pop-focused. How would you describe your new sound to your fans?

We’re starting off very pop and very upbeat, but I’m still a sad pop girlie at heart, so there’s definitely some very depressing, sad songs on the album that will come out in a bit as well.

I would say I’ve become more confident this time, like we’re growing up a little bit, let’s have a more fun.

A lot of my fans are very similar in age to me, so I feel like we’re all kind of growing up together. I feel like, you know what? I’m nineteen, let’s have a little fun, let’s dance, let’s get a little sexy, a little hot – but also have a cry later on as well. We’ll get there.

I’m also nineteen, so I’m here with you.

You get me, you get me! (laughs)

You supported Jason Derulo on an amazing run of arena shows in the UK and in Europe earlier this year. What was it like performing on such big and iconic stages?

Right now, it still feels like a fever dream because we’re in September and it only just happened in January, February, and March. It was amazing. I was surprised because when I was really, really small, I used to have stage fright and I hated performing in front of people and speaking in front of people, so I was scared that I might be nervous or overthinking, but I just kept on telling myself every night, go out there, and just enjoy it.

And I have the best band on planet earth. I love those guys to pieces, so we just kind of went out there and had fun every single night – and then got to listen to Jason’s set for free, which was like, amazing.

What a bonus! I saw on your Instagram, when you went to see Ariana Grande at The O2, you posted something like ‘I performed on this stage!’ That’s quite the flex. That’s really, really cool.

Yeah! I was walking into The O2 to see Ariana – and my goal when we were on tour was to walk through the front entrance, because that’s just such an iconic space to walk through, but I didn’t get to do that because we didn’t have time and we were rushing! I hated it because everyone kept on telling me that my name was like on the posters and stuff and I didn’t get to see it – but we were walking in to go see Ariana and, you know, walking through The O2, getting to our seats, I was like, six months ago I was on that stage. This time six months ago I was just getting ready. I know what it all looks like.

My photographer Athena actually was at a different Ariana Grande show, like four days later, and she texted me like ‘Girl, I know how to get backstage. I’m gonna walk there.’

Oh, it was really cool. I think that was the biggest, weirdest déjà vu moment I’ve ever had where I was like, wait I was here – on the other side – but I was here.

That’s so amazing. Now onto that, the new sound of this era sounds like it was meant to be performed live, like the tracks were made for the stage. Do you hope to get back out on tour soon?

Oh yeah. I mean, I would go tomorrow if they’d have me! I’m hoping to book some sort of supporting gig. I would love to support someone on tour again this year just before we get the album under wraps. And then I’m definitely going to do a couple more ‘angel meets’ because the fans loved them when we were back in the UK, and then hopefully official headline gigs next year. I’m very excited.

And who would you say is your dream artist to collaborate with?

Madison Beer.

I know, it’s such a boring answer because I’ve been saying the same thing for years, but it’s just the truth. I adore that girl to pieces, and she’s a very big reason why I started writing music as well. I saw her live on the locket tour in Madrid. I went to go see one of my friends and I went to the gig.

I’m a humongous Madison fan, so I can see the inspiration. And just thinking back to the locket tour, you would have been so suited as a supporting act for that tour. Is that something we can expect for a future Madison Beer tour?

I would love to. I met Madison once for a VIP thing when she performed in Prague. My parents orchestrated the whole thing for my birthday and got me VIP tickets, but my problem is, meeting artists now, even meeting Jason Derulo, it’s weird for me to think that I’m on that sort of pedestal in some sense. And I am such a fangirl when it comes to Madison Beer that I need time. Yeah, we will get there, but I need time. (laughs)

There’s actually a song from my new album that you’ll love called Broken Pieces. It’s very, very inspired by her and her harmonies and vocal chains and stuff. But yeah, I adore her. So that’s always going to be my answer.

And you’re not only an exceptional vocalist; you’re also amazing writer. What is the process like for you when writing new music?

It really depends on what we’re writing. With sad music, it’s like human nature for me for some reason, because I started writing music as a therapeutic outlet, so I find it easy for words to pop into my head and write from there.

With heartless, it was the other way around, as we made the beats first.

So, it’s sometimes lyrically that something will just pop into my head and I need to write, because otherwise I can’t fall asleep, or it’ll be like a melodic thing when we’re in the studio. And then I’m like, okay, now I know where the lyrics are going.

When was the moment you knew heartless romance was complete? What was that like?

It was weird because it was the first time I ever wrote a single song while we were writing the album. We weren’t writing to write a single. It was like, we are genuinely working on this body of work, and we were in the studio, and I think it was like the fourth or fifth song we made during those sessions, and there was just something about heartless when we listened back to it, where I was like, this is number one, this is coming. It was like three days into the songwriting camp.

I just remember telling everyone ‘Guys, I know this is coming out, this is the first one, this is happening’, and I flew back to Prague and started calling my girl who does my choreography for tours, and I was like, I need to play you the song. We need to make this choreo. And we instantly started planning, because I just think it’s such a fun song. It’s also still kind of a little bit summery, so I’m not letting go of summer a tiny little bit.

For some reason it felt so right, and so different to what we’ve put out because I was like, of course I could release a sad song right now – and trust me, I’ve got a folder of them that I need to sort out before we figure out what’s going to come out – but I was like, I think it’s time for us to start this new fun era, because I can just imagine playing heartless romance live to a crowd. My drummer’s actually already made a live version of it because he’s too excited to play it, so yeah, I love it.

If you could describe heartless romance in three words, what would they be?

Chemistry, confidence & a-little-bit-of-fun.

My last question for you is, what do you hope to achieve as an artist in the coming months?

I have some personal goals that I would love to achieve, just because I would love to start headlining shows and do that whole thing, which I’m very excited for with the new album, but I think I would just love to continue doing what I’ve been doing.

I had quite a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that the second album was going to do what the first one did, which was to connect with people through the lyrics and through the things that I was saying, and it took me a little while to figure out where I wanted to go with it, because I kept on thinking I needed to have a crazy meaning or specific storytelling thing.

In the end I was like, no, I’m nineteen. I’m growing up. I’m learning these lessons, and it feels nicer and more vulnerable and real if I just write about life and the things that we go through, so I just hope that the fans love it. I hope that the music gives them what they need, if they need to dance, if they need to cry. Even though my fans keep on yelling at me that they’re crying too much often, hahaha.

I just hope it encourages people to just have fun, and I’m just really excited to see where it goes.

heartless romance is available to stream everywhere now.

Text Copyright 2026 © Kelsey McAndrew/ADRENALINE Magazine.

Photography Copyright 2026 © as credited within the article.