Agnes Obel

Biography

A Berlin-based, Danish-born singer/songwriter and classically trained pianist with an elegant and elastic voice, Agnes Obel’s poised and melancholic chamber pop draws from the same atmosphere-heavy well as cinematic spellcasters like Antony & the Johnsons and Lisa Hannigan, but with a succinct aura of Scandinavian refinery. Her evocative blend of classical, pop, jazz, and electronic music found success in Europe on the strength of the platinum-selling Philharmonics and Aventine. Her ambitious 2016 release, Citizen of Glass, which introduced ghostly electronics, voice modulation, and a late-’20s monophonic synthesizer called a Trautonium into the mix, helped to establish her overseas as well.

Born Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel on October 28, 1980, she took up the piano at a very young age, honing her craft amidst the strains of Bartok and Chopin emanating from the fingers of her musician mother. She later drew inspiration from the work of Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson, and it was between those two worlds that her own sound began to emerge. Citing influences as diverse as PJ Harvey and Claude Debussy, and drawing comparisons to the likes Ane Brun, Eva Cassidy, and Joni Mitchell, Obel’s 2010 debut, Philharmonics, was written (with the exception of a cover of John Cale’s “I Keep a Close Watch”), performed and produced by the artist herself. Pure, austere, and remarkably poised, the pristine mix of instrumentals and atmospheric, melancholy balladry was both a critical and commercial success, especially in her native Denmark, where the record went double platinum. Composed, produced, arranged, and mixed by Obel herself at Chalk Wood Studios, 2013’s impressionistic Aventine was another commercial success, charting in nine countries. For her much-anticipated third studio album, 2016’s transparency-themed Citizen of Glass, Obel experimented with vintage synthesizers, as well as her own voice, which is at times heavily modulated.

Releases

News

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AGNES OBEL RELEASES NEW SINGLE “BROKEN SLEEP”

“This song was, surprisingly enough, written in a period where I was struggling with falling asleep. In the effort to find a cure I began to read about the science of sleep as well as the cultural history of sleep which led me to the ancient idea that sleep and death are familiar states and problems with sleep are... read more

AGNES OBEL ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM “MYOPIA”; LEAD SINGLE “ISLAND OF DOOM” OUT NOW

For almost a decade, Agnes Obel has been one of the most independent and original artists in contemporary music. Now she has returned with new music, releasing the enchanting single “Island Of Doom” ahead of her highly-anticipated new album Myopia, which will be released February 21, 2020 through Blue Note Records... read more

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