Agnes Obel

About Agnes Obel

Berlin-based, Danish-born singer/songwriter, producer & classically trained pianist with an elegant and elastic voice, Agnes Obel's poised & melancholic chamber pop draws from the same atmosphere-heavy well as cinematic spellcasters, but with a succinct aura of Scandinavian refinery. Her evocative blend of classical, pop, jazz & electronic music found success in Europe on the strength of the platinum-selling Philharmonics & 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. In 2018 she inked a deal with Deutsche Grammophon and curated a Late Night Tales compilation. 2020 saw Obel release her fourth full-length, Myopia, which was entirely self-recorded & produced - like the previous three studio albums. She took up the piano at a very young age, honing her craft amidst the strains of Bartok & Chopin emanating from the fingers of her musician mother. Citing influences as diverse as PJ Harvey & Claude Debussy, and drawing comparisons to the likes Ane Brun, Eva Cassidy & Joni Mitchell, Obel's debut, Philharmonics, was written (with the exception of a John Cale cover), performed & produced by the artist herself. Pure, austere, and remarkably poised, the pristine mix of instrumentals & atmospheric, melancholy balladry was both a critical & commercial success, especially in Denmark where the record went 2x platinum.