Violetta J’Adore announces official music video for 'The 1'

With her debut album GODDEX, Violetta J'Adore delivered a fearless statement on queer identity, desire, family and heritage, wrapped in shimmering electronic pop and unapologetic self-expression. Now, one of the record's standout moments has received the cinematic treatment it always deserved.

Premiering following its debut screening at Thessaloniki Pride, the official video for 'The 1' expands the song's world far beyond a traditional performance clip. Directed by Jonah Garrett-Bannister, the visually arresting short film transforms London's queer nightlife into a dreamlike landscape where intimacy, fantasy and vulnerability collide. Through striking fashion, ambitious cinematography and an unflinching celebration of queer desire, the project marks Violetta's boldest visual statement to date.

We caught up with Violetta to discuss the making of 'The 1', collaborating with Jonah Garrett-Bannister, reclaiming queer nightlife through a more inclusive lens, and why GODDEX is the first project where every part of her identity finally feels united.

1. "The 1" clearly struck a chord as one of the standout moments on GODDEX. What was it about this track that made you want to return to it in such a big way with a full cinematic video?

I always felt that “The 1” had a much bigger visual world waiting to be explored. Even when I was writing it, I wasn’t just hearing a song, I was seeing scenes, locations and people. It’s one of the most unapologetically queer tracks on GODDEX, and I knew that if I was going to create a music video for any song on the album, it had to be one that expanded the story rather than simply illustrated it.

It would have been very easy to make the obvious music video. I have songs like “Yiámas!” that naturally lend themselves to a club setting, choreography and performance. But “The 1” deserved something different. I wanted to challenge myself creatively and make something that felt cinematic, ambitious and visually intriguing.

I also wanted to challenge the idea that queer music videos have to play it safe. Jonah immediately understood that vision, and together we approached it almost like we were making a short film rather than a traditional music video, celebrating queer intimacy without apologising for it.

2. The song is rooted in queer desire, lust and those intense one-night connections that can happen in nightlife spaces. How did your own experiences of London's queer scene shape both the writing of the track and the emotional tone of the video?

London has one of the most exciting nightlife scenes in the world, but it’s also incredibly complex. There are moments of freedom, celebration and connection, but there’s also loneliness, vulnerability and sometimes even danger. I wanted “The 1” to exist somewhere between those realities and to present them honestly. That’s why it was important for us to make the video feel raw, real and authentic, filming in actual locations across London rather than recreating everything inside a studio.

The song is inspired by years of existing within queer spaces and watching people search for connection in different ways. Sometimes those connections last a lifetime, and sometimes they only exist for a few hours. I wanted to capture that feeling of intense attraction where, even for a moment, someone becomes your entire universe.

3. You've said you wanted the video to feel honest about both the fantasy and the reality of queer nightlife, especially in spaces that can often feel very cis-male dominated. How important was it for you to reimagine those environments through a more inclusive, stylised and intentionally unrealistic lens?

That was one of the most important conversations Jonah and I had from the very beginning. The video isn’t trying to document cruising culture. It’s a dreamscape. We wanted to imagine what those spaces could feel like if they were built around inclusivity, freedom and expression rather than the boundaries that often exist in reality.

As a drag artist, I’ve always existed slightly outside those traditional spaces anyway. So it felt important to create a version where different bodies, identities and expressions could all coexist naturally. It’s still sexy, it’s still provocative, but it’s also intentionally hopeful.

4. Fashion seems to play a huge role in the storytelling here, with pieces from AARCIVESS, Namilia and Mugler helping build the world of the video. When you're creating as Violetta, how intertwined are the music, the styling and the visual narrative from the outset?

For me they’re inseparable.

We never thought of “The 1” as just a song you listen to. Even back when I was writing the lyrics and working on it as part of GODDEX, I was already imagining what it would look like and how it would move. Once we decided to create a music video, the conversation naturally became what someone would wear inside that world and how the camera should experience it.

Working with Coast, the director of AARCIVESS, on the styling was such a natural collaboration because we’ve known each other for years. We both understood that the clothes weren’t there simply to decorate the video. They were part of the storytelling. Every silhouette and every look helps define who I am within that particular world has always been one of the ways I communicate before I’ve even opened my mouth to sing.

5. With GODDEX, your drag artistry, Greek Cypriot heritage, pop instincts and queer storytelling all feel deeply connected. As you continue expanding that world through visuals like "The 1", what do you feel this era is allowing you to express about yourself that maybe previous projects or performances couldn't?

I was working on GODDEX for years before I felt it was ready to be released, and it’s the first project where I truly feel like every part of me exists in the same space. For a long time I felt like I had to separate things. There was Violetta the performer, Theo the person, my Greek Cypriot heritage, my love of music and my experiences as a queer person. With GODDEX, all of those parts finally coexist.

The album begins with the lullaby my mother used to sing to me as a child and ends with “Home”, a song I wrote for her. Between those two moments is everything else that has shaped me: queer nightlife, desire, heartbreak, identity, celebration and freedom.

“The 1” represents one chapter within that world. It’s probably the boldest visual statement I’ve made so far, but more than anything, I hope it shows that queer stories deserve to be told with the same scale, beauty and cinematic ambition as any other story.