Anabel Englund - Global Dance Festival

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Anabel Englund

Anabel Englund’s sound is entrancing in its dichotomy: oftentimes bright and carefree with her authentic Southern California breeziness. Other times she is irresistibly alluring with her dark, smoldering touch. The singer-songwriter explores the dynamics of that captivating contrast with her debut album Messing with Magic. The Los Angeles-based artist spent late 2019 and all of 2020 releasing singles from Messing With Magic leading into its formal release in December on MK’s AREA10 label with Ultra Records. Beyond two #1 US dance airplay singles “So Hot (MK & Nightlapse Remix)” and “Picture Us,” the album highlights a variety of dance floor friendly tracks and heartfelt compositions. “Messing with Magic” can be a love story with someone else, but it also can be a love story with yourself,” Anabel prefaces. “It is also a nod to my songwriting process. When I write songs, at the time I think I’m writing about one thing. It isn’t until months later that I realize I was actually writing about all these underlying, deeper meanings that I couldn’t see at the time, making the lyrics feel more powerful and sincere.” The scope of Anabel’s craft is evident through album cuts including the original version of “So Hot,” “Spell My Name” and “Messing with Magic” with Jamie Jones, sizzling with dance floor attitude and capturing the raw, messy magic of falling in love. There’s also the beautiful melancholic interlude “Burn It” and “Picture Us”—written before the Covid pandemic—inspired by the PBS documentary “A Year In Space,” which follows astronaut twins as one heads to space and the other remains earthbound. Connection is a staple in Englund’s songwriting and for “Picture Us” she taps into the special bonds between people using the twin astronauts, who even though are thousands of miles apart, are still intertwined. It tells a story of two people who get through dark times together, knowing they can always count on each other. Other standouts include the “So Hot” (MK & Nightlapse Remix) which to date has garnered over 10 million streams on Spotify alone and hit #1 on dance radio for eight weeks in a row; “See The Sky” which was remixed by Tracy Young, the first ever female GRAMMY-Award winner for “Best Remix Production” (Non-Classical); And “Underwater,” which pairs the chanteuse with MK for a steamy house track. Plus, “Warm Disco” with Lee Foss and Soulcatalyst with “Float.” The Los Angeles native has never hesitated in her pursuit of creating music and art. Raised in a family of musicians, actors and doctors, she was a teenager writing theme songs and material for television shows for ABC Family Network. It wasn’t until she discovered her own fascination for the world of dance music that she was able to truly come into her own, bringing together her classical vocal and piano training into brand new, uncharted territory. She has performed around the world at iconic festivals like Glastonbury, Coachella, Bestival, III Points and CRSSD,as well as venues like the O2 Academy and Ushuaïa Ibiza. Her last live plays prior to COVID-19 include Warehouse Project in Manchester, the new SoHo Warehouse in downtown Los Angeles and aboard The FriendShip music cruise.

During the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic while the world was on lockdown, Anabel took the opportunity to promote her music by sharpening her DJ skills and acoustic performance to perform a variety of live streams including Mixmag Lab Home Edition, EDC Orlando Virtual Rave-A-Thon, Higher Ground with Diplo, SIRIUSXM’s BPM’s Empowered Festival, Factory 93 and Desert Hearts among others. She is also recognized for her eccentric, bold style and has performed at major cultural events like Paris, London and Milan Fashion Weeks.

Anabel Englund’s music brings together the quick wit of electronic; the unorthodox stylings of alternative; and the individuality of an indie artist. In 2012, Englund stepped into the house scene, bringing her unique sultry, slow-burn voice to Pleasure State’s “Electricity” (her group project with Lee Foss and MK). She further cemented her arrival by following with “Reverse Skydiving” with Lee Foss and Jamie Jones’ collaborative project Hot Natured the following year. She has released music on Hot Creation, Defected and Desert Hearts, while  simultaneously doing so with Gari Safari. This party-turned-label-collective is where she curates alongside her brother Jackson and the other Gari crew members celebrates the diversity and the beauty of live dance music. There are a select few voices of house music that have paved their own pathway to legendary. Anabel Englund carries unforgettable, powerful melodies, and choruses to huge success.