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Agnes Obel review – Myopia: New album inhabits a desolate place of twilight solitude

This is an album to experience alone, and there’s a comfort to being pulled into ‘myopia’s’ contemplative, isolating territory, article bookmarked.

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Danish songwriter Agnes Obel ’s fourth album was sparked by a struggle to escape her “own tunnel vision”.

“I wanted to depict that sense of being trapped within a state of mind with very little peripheral vision, where what is left to be seen only gets increasingly intensified,” she said. This intricately crafted album captures that feeling profoundly.

Myopia was recorded mostly at night, in creative isolation at Obel’s Berlin home studio, as with her previous albums Philharmonics , Aventine and 2016’s Citizen Of Glass . During the writing process the creatively ambitious musician suffered insomnia, and “Broken Sleep” – one of the first songs released – merges anxious pizzicato strings, circling piano and harmonising choral vocals.

The entire album inhabits that desolate place of twilight solitude, and forces its listener into a mode of introspection. It’s a record to experience alone. With the exception of “Drosera”, and its tritone dissonance and eerie flutes that recall the score to a horror film, there’s a comfort to being pulled into Myopia ’s contemplative, isolating territory.

“Island of Doom” tackles grief as soaring voices wash over muffled lo fi piano. Her gliding vocals are pitched high and low so as to melt into the musical minimalism as another instrument. Within these exquisitely produced tracks, which often eschew the typical chord progressions of pop music, Obel also experiments with altering the pitch of violin, cello, felt piano, celesta and mellotron.

Building mournful strings over descending piano chords on “Parliament of Owls”, Obel creates an engrossing instrumental track of melancholic beauty. It’s followed by the equally involving and cinematic “Promise Keeper”, which begins with a gently sung folky melody and the drone of a sustained piano key building tension until the middle of the track releases, powerfully, into cascading vocals. This cohesive mood piece casts a hypnotic spell.

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Agnes Obel  

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Agnes Obel, born October 28th 1980, is a singer-songwriter from Denmark. Her classical and folk crossover music earned her five prizes at the Danish Music Awards in November 2011.

Obel had the privilege of growing up around music, as her father would love to collect strange objects and instruments such as the xylophone and even a double bass. Her mother was a pianist and would play Bartók and Chopin on the piano. Obel naturally took to the piano at a very young age. Her teacher told her that she shouldn’t play what she doesn’t like, so she just played what she liked. As a musical artist, Obel discovered Jan Johansson’s works, which were pivotal to her understanding of creating music, especially in an individual way. It was in 1987 that Obel joined her first band as a singer and bass guitar player. She even had a small part in a short film alongside her brother called Walking Backwards. She recounts that this was around the time that she stumbled upon an album called “Dummy” by Portishead, which left a lasting impression on Obel, describing it as the mix of melancholy and a dream.

She met Danish musician and producer Elton Theander, and together the pair founded the band Sohio. It was a short-lived project, as Obel decided to move to Berlin after visiting it once, and has lived there since. In 2009 Obel uploaded a demo of her song “Just So” onto her Myspace page. Despite the song being used in an advertisement for Deutsche Telekom, Obel had to fight hard looking for a label.

Agnes Obel however, was offered a deal under PIAS Recordings in 2010, and released her debut album “Philharmonics” that same year. She writes, plays, sings, records and produces all of her material on her own, taking a lot of care perfecting the piano alongside the vocals as she has said “The piano and the singing are two equal things to me – maybe not inseparable but very connected. You can say they are like two equal voices”. The album went to number 1 in Denmark and Belgium. It also charted in France, Netherlands and Switzerland, going 5x Platinum in Denmark alone. Her sophomore release, “Aventine” gained similar success, again, making it to number 1 in Denmark and Belgium.

It was on her 2014 tour that she decided to start work on her third studio album, saying that she wants to work less with piano and more with other kinds of old keyboards.

Live reviews

Agnes Obel’s debut record rich with obscure cerebral tales to excite the curious mind, first tiptoed over the airwaves in 2010. All of the songs are self-penned, self-produced and recorded in Berlin, Danish-born Agnes’ adopted hometown. The interwoven, haunting stories, reminiscent of the mysterious and macabre folklore spun by Angela Carter and the Brothers Grimm, are accompanied by the delicious sound of piano, violin and cello, a veritable heady mix of music for the mind, body and soul. The journey offered through this intoxicating wood invites you to veer off the beaten track to explore the powdered, crisp ground beyond, which is where, ((hush) if you dare), you will observe magic, mysterious, emotion laden songs falling from a sun dappled September sky tempting you to reach out to catch. Until the release of her 2013 follow-up record, Aventine, Agnes was THE best-kept secret, hidden intentionally amongst the flora and fauna of small European venues before the inevitable larger outfits greedily clamoured and, bringing with them, a greater distance between artist and audience. However, Agnes’ simple, pure and unassuming approach will surely keep the corporate beast at arm’s length, as this is where the beauty of her live music set lies; the emotive, lush, vibrating sound of a sumptuous voice caressing sublime lyrics along with instruments, which work best in spaces built to give the optimum acoustically, not typically nurtured by the back breaking caverns found on the contemporary world tour.

A rapidly expanding European tour has gained momentum, transporting Agnes back and forwards across the globe, with the north Americas and Australia desperately craving their aural fill. This is no wonder as an Agnes Obel concert is as charming, easy, beautiful and intelligent as she herself is; you sit and sway, beautifully crafted song after song warming and welcoming you, yet always leaving you wanting more. Having been lucky to see her live on a few occasions, it is notable that she has grown in confidence in her interactions with the audience. This is pleasing as her dry musings raise a smile or communicate something precious from the closely watched heart of hers about the song to be performed. For example, Agnes shared with her Barbican audience in April 2014 that Run Cried the Crawling’s inspiration is a story her late father used to tell her as a child; it was a poignant personal grain laid bare before us, rendering her questioning whether she could carry the song having evoked the memory of a dear loved one lost and the audience feeling even more protective towards her. Live performance affords experiment and clever tinkering with songs in the way that adds fuel to a brightly burning fire, giving the hungry crowd a raw and satisfying feast on which to dine as opposed to a note perfect impression of her records. A delight for one’s senses, leaving a unique almost spiritual glow only experienced on rare occasions from a live concert. Whichever path Agnes chooses next, one thing is for sure; her words are never dead, they are alive, and leave an ingrained melodic memory never to be erased.

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To begin with, the concert took place in awesome Paradiso in Amsterdam, a place so legendary that you are immediately in a different state of mind and energy as you step in. So we had a gorgeous location and atmosphere. We were thrilled since the first moments we had together that evening, at her entrance on stage, when she greeted us with such a kind and joyful smile that you were quickly swept away - convinced that what's coming is special. And it was, she carried us softly and chillingly through the new stories she sings these days, blended with the older and more familiar ones. The mix was perfect from my point of view, and I liked very much the (new) focus on cellos - including for her older songs. It was my first Agnes Obel concert, so I don't know if that happens usually when she plays live. The ladies in her band are awesome! They have beautiful voices and are very talented, really nice to see how the group works together to get every song to a higher level than what you had in your mind from the recordings. I was very happy that she also did what we were all 'crying' for (I imagine) - she played The Curse and ended with Riverside. We had a very special evening, I was very excited to be there and the audience was great. I highly recommend going to one of her concerts, even if you are just curious about the experience and not a die-hard fan. Oh, there was even a funny moment when something went wrong with the sound - as in we had a squealing sound out of the blue. Her reaction was priceless - very sweet, relaxed and natural. Thank you!

Simple melodies are what Agnes Obel herself has stated that she is attracted to. I find that lovely. Sometimes with today's music there really is just too much going on. The human ear and the sense of hearing is delicate. It can easily become overloaded. And over time, music lovers have shown that simple is good, that less can be more.

Agnes Obel takes us back to a place of peace and serenity: the tones are pure as the driven snow. The harmonies, the keys pressed and placed, they all have a distinct purpose. Not everyone will appreciate this, sadly.

It is soft, gentle yet is able to reach around and embrace your most vital organ, your heart. Agnes Obel is in a class all her own. Her performances are memorable, really unforgettable: they generate and evoke a reaction. Nope- you won't really find a rowdy audience erupting in thunderous applause of shoutouts, but you can tell through their reactions how much they are pleased by Agnes and her contributions to performing arts. A wonderful, intimate experience.

An excellent show from start to finish. Full of ethereal tones and haunting melodies each member of the band accompanying Obel were on point, mixing their low and high voices with Obel's and braving difficult combinations of sound with percussionist ever keeping the beat and rhythm on going. Both cellists (who also served as piano and percussion) were particularly spectacular in my opinion as they worked both in sync but also went off on solo expeditions within a given piece. The strong lead vocals from Obel and her witty conversations between songs encouraged the crowd on as the lights changed from song to song, adding to the other ambiance to create a perfect environment to enjoy great music.

I love Agnes Obel. Her music en voice are beautiful, mezmerizing, hanting.

In that respect the show was wonderful. She performed with two cellists and a drummer/oboe player.

All girls. Wonderful!

The lighting was another matter. It was very over the top, moving, blinking, rotating. It was distracting me from the music and voices. Sometimes the spots were directed at us, the audience. The light was blinding and really interfered with my enjoyment of the voices and music.

It almost seemed as if she's afraid that the audience will be bored by a calm show in which the voices and music literally take center stage.

Anges, we will not be bored! Please tone down the lighting. :-)

As expected, the performance of Agnes Obel was great. There were a few things that made it less pleasant than it should be. The artist before AO was truly terrible, very far below the quality of AO. The sound quality made it stressful for us and the temperature and humidity in the hall made it tropically damp, not my cup of tea.

For us, it's very strange that the quality level of everything on that evening was that extremely far below the standard that Agnes Obel deliveres. I'd love to sea her show again but never again in the "Forum de Liege".

A truly memorable show and delighted we could be there. She wandered on to the stage very quietly around 9pm with her three musicians and played an amazing repertoire of old and new. She seemed very modest on stage and spoke few words but the music was powerful. Highlight for me was Fuel to Fire and Philharmonics. She said this was the final night of her tour. During her encore her famous Riverside was a real treat. Would not miss her next show and thanks to Songkick for the clever alert this time around !

I loved every second of this performance ... I was fortunate to be standing 5m from the stage ... the power of the cellos ... the focused faces of the four ladies who really played as a happy team ... the updated arrangements were refreshing in subtle ways compared to the albums ... an excellent group of female musicians/singers ... Agnes was much more relax & talkative than during previous Belgian concerts ... extremely enjoyable ... and thanks for bringing Mark Berube along!

We didn't like the performance too much, AB is too big for her music. The CD is excellent and the show she gave a few years ago in Brussels Royal Circus was a reference (although she was having a cold!). No, Agnes, stay away from these big concert halls and leave at least two musicians home, you’re doing much better alone!

Agnes Obel delivered a memorable show filling the room with a melodious sound of piano and cellos enhanced by a spot on percussion and amazing singing (really good back vocals). Personally I thought the best moments were The Curse and On Powdered Ground.

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Agnes Obel – Myopia Review

Agnes Obel has managed to evolve her sound over her music career whilst never really leaving her signature core behind. After her devastatingly beautiful debut ‘Philharmonics’, she moved into more chamber instruments with ‘Aventine’. ‘Citizen of Glass’ saw her start to modulate her voice with various pitch-shifting effects but it still kept her mood and sound.

‘Myopia’ keeps everything that has come before but the theme of this album is about blurring sounds. From the first notes of ‘Camera’s Rolling’ the vocal synths return, the piano returns, the strings swirl mystically. The key here is that the ‘Myopia’ blurs where they all meet together. This album is the most mystical and ethereal of Agnes’ yet. The extended outro of ‘Camera’s Rolling’ is a clue of where Obel wants the album to head. ‘Broken Sleep’ has so much going on musically but each layer is hushed and smudged out so nothing stands out. It is like the music is half awake. That is not a criticism – its a quirky and unique style of production and it sells the album and its mood.

Once you notice and seep into this smudged sound, like how woman were filmed in the 1930s, the album takes on a truly mystical and alien tone. ‘Island of Doom’ filters the piano into a watery gurgle. Agnes’ vocals float over the top and the dense production makes so much sense. Even the instrumental ‘Roscian’ switches from dreamy to creepy and back again. As the sound for the album is a dreamscape, percussion is few and far between. The title track is one of the only instances where a drum is heard and even then it is drenched in reverb. Obel doesn’t want you to wake from the creepy slumber she has placed you in.

The second half of the album moves even deeper into the atmospheric side of things. Two more instrumentals appear in ‘Drosera’ and the achingly beautiful ‘Parliament of Owls’. The latter is possibly her most heartbreaking instrumental to date. ‘Can’t Be’ and ‘Promise Keeper’ both show the different ways Agnes Obel moves her voice in the mystical sense. The former is more aggressive and the latter plays with lots of distance effects. At times it has a Bulgarian choir quality to it which was not where I thought the album would ever head. The verses are very pensive and trapped on a single chord and so when the choruses hit they feel like an unveiling. After all the pensive and taut production, ‘Myopia’ closes off with a gentle caress. ‘Won’t You Call Me’ is a hark back to early Obel with the softest vocals and distant piano casually making you ugly cry to infinity.

With each album, Agnes Obel excavates a little deeper into her ambient and ethereal shroud. Whilst I would have loved a couple more vocal tracks on ‘Myopia’, the instrumentals work fantastically with the dense and foggy mood the album provides. This may not be the best place to start with Agnes’ music, but it is certainly able to go toe-to-toe with her best.

Recommended track: Broken Sleep

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Agnes Obel Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

Agnes obel at philharmonie de paris, paris, france.

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Agnes Obel at Astor Theatre, Perth, Australia

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Pop/R&B

Blue Note / Deutsche Grammophon

February 26, 2020

Since 2010, Danish songwriter Agnes Obel has produced ghostly, moody chamber pop with configurations of piano, strings, and her own voice. Myopia , her fourth album, represents a new peak for her lush melancholy. Raised in Copenhagen by musical parents (her father was an instrument collector and former jazz guitarist, her mother a talented pianist), Obel studied music in high school, eventually dropping out to attend a program for budding producers. As with her three previous albums, she wrote, recorded, mixed, and produced Myopia at her home studio in Berlin.

Myopia means “nearsightedness,” a title Obel chose to reflect her insular approach to music. Where some children might keep a private diary, Obel played solo piano: “I always had a different style of music I liked to play just by myself,” she’s said . Myopia lives in this solitude, inviting you into a creeping mist where vocals and piano smear together. Myopia uses vocal manipulation and murky instrumentation for ambient effect, painting the gloom in hues of rich blue and grey.

The effect is present from earliest moments on the album, as on “Broken Sleep,” where Obel’s voice dips in and around plucked strings as she instructs, “Dream me a dream soft as a pillow.” She passes the phrase “dream me a dream” back and forth with herself, alternating between a long e , like dreem , and a short e , like drem . Elsewhere she experiments with textured vocal layering and muddled, rippling warbles. On “Promise Keeper,” pronunciation takes a backseat in favor of delicate vocalizations. At times her voice leaps over itself, like cresting dolphins. When Obel sings the album’s title on “Myopia,” the word simply melts into the rain of compressed drums and strings, barely detectable.

Myopia recalls the gauziness of Grouper , or the poetry of Kate Bush , but the way the album forms its own strange landscape suggests that Obel is more interested in her own musical planet than any shared reality. She’s motivated, perhaps, by what she’s described as a discomfort with social media and the pressure of a culture where “we expect everyone to be open and made of glass.” Myopia , with its atmospheric piano, shadowy vocal effects, and persistent tension, resists this kind of visibility. These songs are obscured like frosted glass, as meticulously pretty and faintly unnerving as a porcelain doll. Though the album ends almost as quietly as it began, Obel’s whispery ambient fog lingers far longer.

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Agnes Obel – “Myopia”

Agnes obel continues to push the boundaries of classical, folk, and experimental music with her new album  myopia . creating beautifully haunting sounds, the artist delivers a ten-track masterpiece that puts the mind at ease..

Release date: February 21, 2020 | Deutsche Grammophon/Blue Note | Website | Facebook | Listen

Agnes Obel has mastered the art of graceful experimentation. She creates an eerie and hypnotic sound using beautiful harmonies, melodic piano, and percussive strings. The artist experiments with haunting sounds and unique production, while sticking to her roots in elegant  piano lines.

Obel is a classically trained musician based in Berlin. Her newest full-length album, Myopia , is eagerly anticipated in the wake of her multiple successful previous releases. The artist released the song “Island of Doom” as a single in October, giving her listeners a taste of her new sound. Following this single, she released the song “Broken Sleep” shortly after. Both had music videos to go along with them, created by Alex Br ü e l Flagstad .

I am very impressed by this album. Obel weaves poetic lyrics with classical-type instrumental tracks that somehow push the boundaries of many genres. Bringing in classical piano, experimental vocals created by voice modulation, and folk-like string parts, she is appealing to a large variety of listeners. The ten-track album has a magical feel, entrancing the listeners and uplifting them. One can imagine the album being the soundtrack to an enchanted forest of sorts.

The first three songs of the album are similar in style. They each have beautiful piano melodies that seem to carry the song, yet float over top of Obel ’s voice. “Camera’s Rolling” and “Broken Sleep” both have very percussive strings, giving the songs a strong base. The album then has a track titled “Roscian”, which is solely dedicated to piano. The light piano is a nice contrast to the darker track before it, “Island of Doom”. 

In the middle of the album is the album’s title song, “Myopia”. This is the busiest song on the album, and offers the most excitement. The song features many instruments, including three different types of percussion. Obel sings a vocal part that doubles the percussive strings and adds a tom drum during parts on top of that for emphasis. Floating over top of the percussion and Obel ’s voice is a piano line that repeats itself at times throughout the piece. Every instrument in this song is layered beautifully, expressing emotion at the right moments.

The album is most experimental during the track “Myopia” and the two tracks following. “Drosera”, an instrumental track, pairs a piano line with a flute that offers a sense of uneasiness. This flows into an equally chilling string section and then returns back to the looping piano line. “Can’t Be” is a track that features more vocals, showcasing Obel ’s comforting and elegant voice.  Using the strings mainly as percussion, the vocals are layered to create a full sound, chiming in as percussion as well.

The last three tracks on the album are somewhat less experimental, as if to soothe the listener. They remind me of her previous work (especially her album Aventine ). I think this was a great way to bring the album to a close.

Many of the tracks in Myopia create the sensation of time passing. Obel does this by accenting each beat evenly and using triplets. It can often be heard in the cello parts, but the piano plays into the effect as well. “Drosera” is a track that greatly emphasizes this. It is a unique theme throughout the album that adds a mysterious feel to each song.

The artist writes graceful lyrics, usually talking a lot about nature and the heart. She writes very detailed, yet ambiguous lyrics. The instrumentals for her music reflect her lyrics in the way that they are very thought out and freeing. In her song “Island of Doom”, she talks about the prison the mind creates and ensures that she will be with them on their way to their island of doom.

‘But the road through mines will lead you back, and I will be with you Before the road of your mind will eat you up, on your island of doom, Where the voices have all gathered up, To a choir of fool But I know my mind will reach you there, and I will be with you.’ 

I have followed Agnes Obel for many years now and love seeing her push the boundaries of her usual sound. I hope to see her travel further down this path and experiment more with vocal distortion and eerie piano melodies. She has a unique vision like no other and executes it very well. Obel has started touring with the album in Europe and North America. If she is in a location near you, do not pass up the chance to hear this album live! Being immersed in the sound this artist creates will be an unforgettable experience!

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On 2010’s Philharmonics , Danish pianist Agnes Obel infused her songs with a deep and resonant melancholy. Sparse, somber and filled with gently beguiling melodies, it was an unexpected hit in her native Denmark (as well as in France, Belgium and her adopted home of Germany), and one that provides a decent idea of what to expect from this, her second.

Like her debut album, Aventine  opens with a short instrumental. ‘Chord Left’ sets the scene, and a fine introduction it is, too, minor chords ringing out like question marks as a plaintive, pretty lead shape dances atop them. ‘Fuel To Fire’ follows, and immediately points towards the larger scale and increased confidence on display. Obel’s voice, a soft, velvet thing, is more expressive, more assured, and while the backing on her first album could be brittle and skittish, here it is fleshed out by rich strings and percussion. 

The whole record is soft and slow; it is sad, for sure, but never despondent. Rather, the mood created is exquisite, and caught at the right time, captivating. It is emphatically not an album for all moods and seasons; its languid, contemplative pace befits early hours, solitary listening, but it befits them perfectly. ‘Run Cried The Crawling’ closes out the first side of the album (‘Tokka’, one of three instrumental passages, marks the start of its back end), and Obel’s delivery has never been quite as affecting. "I’m alright here in your arms, darling," she insists over its outro, an admission she packs with sentiment. She modifies the adverb, just once, to " only in your arms," implying that it isn’t quite the simple romantic declaration it could be perceived, either.

‘The Curse’ is Aventine ‘s biggest, boldest moment, a song which builds from metronomic plucked strings to a stirring finale, wherein Obel sketches out a vague curse upon a land which might (or might not) be a "blessing in disguise." The lyrics throughout are for the most part unusual; a series of images encompassing fevers, curses, wintry landscapes and a sense that things are just a little off-kilter. The aforementioned line from ‘Run Cried The Crawling’ is something of an anomaly, then, as is the forthright nature of ‘Words Are Dead’, in which Obel puts forth that it is our actions we should place stock in, not our words (a simple notion that I think many would agree, can be surprisingly hard to follow). She effectively takes on the part of the ‘words’ she sings of as the song starts to wind down – a strange turn, but then these are often strange songs – and her pleading tone is once more bracing and direct.

It is at moments like these that Aventine excels, when the inherent oddness to Obel’s music is matched with sweeping drama; a feeling that there are things at stake, and that these things are important, and very much so. This drama, mind, is never cloying nor strained, while the more subtle likes of ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ – a woozy, sonorous closer – offer ample evidence that Obel remains every bit as fascinating pared back as she is amid more ambitious arrangements.

Ultimately, Aventine is a triumph of carefully sustained mood; of a sadness that is not so much overbearing as it beautiful, and one that lingers in the silences between listens of this unusual, unusually compelling record.

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An introduction to Agnes Obel: Danish singer, pianist, and composer

Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel is just one of the many iconic people that  Denmark is famous for . Born in Gentofte, Copenhagen, Obel is an inspirational singer, songwriter, and musician, with an incredible sound and an amazing story. 

Agnes currently lives in Berlin, but her Scandinavian roots shine through in many of her songs and mannerisms. Aside from her incredible music, Obel is also well-known for her poetic way with words. 

In one interview with the Standard and David Symth, she said:

“Sometimes, I feel like musical experiences are more real than what we define as the real world.” Agnes sees music as an incredibly honest and transparent human experience. Here’s everything you need to know about this wonderful artist. 

Where is Agnes Obel from? A brief history

Born on the 28 th of October 1980, Agnes comes from Gentofte, in Copenhagen, Denmark. This Danish singer, musician, and songwriter released her first album at the age of 30 and earned a certified gold record by the next year. 

Since then, Agnes has made a huge impact on the musical world, winning numerous awards and accolades. In the Danish Music Awards of 2011, just one year after entering the scene, she won five prizes, including Best Debut Artists and Best Album. 

Agnes grew up with her younger brother, Holger, and three children from her father’s other marriage. Obel’s father loved creating strange instruments and objects, and her mother, Katja Obel was a musician and a jurist. 

Agnes, like her mother, learned to play the piano while she was still young, with a classical teacher who said she should never play what she didn’t like. 

Obel attended schools where children had plenty of scope to focus on their creative endeavors. In an interview with the Guardian, she said that she wrote her first songs on a  piano in her school hall full of cigarette butts. 

Despite plenty of creative freedom at school, Agnes dropped out before finishing and joined a program for younger, troubled kids who wanted to become record producers. 

She made friends with people setting up record studios and learned how to record. It was then that Obel fell in love with the idea of sculpting her own sounds. 

In the early years, Agnes found inspiration for her music from Jan Johansson, an artist known for folk tunes with a jazzy style. In 1990, she joined her first small band as a  bass guitar player and singer . 

Over the years, Agnes discovered her inner musician, citing influences like Claude Debussy and PJ Harvey as inspiration sources. She was obsessed with artists capable of creating dramatic landscapes with music. 

Obel’s father plays a part in her inspiration too. In her third album, Citizen of Glass, she uses a vast 1920s synthesizer  called a Trautonium .

Musical success: Agnes Obel discography

Many of Agnes Obel’s alums are about experimentation and telling a story. The debut album, Philharmonics, which launched in 2010 was entirely self-written, with the exception of the John Cale song, “I keep a close watch.” 

Much of Obel’s music is extremely atmospheric, with melancholy ballads, and an inspiring mixture of instruments that hark back to her history with unusual instruments. 

Her first album was a huge success, especially in Denmark, where the record quickly achieved double platinum standing. 

In 2013, Agnes went on to release the impressionistic album Aventine, which became another commercial success, with chart presence in nine countries. 

The third studio album, Citizen of Glass, allowed Obel to experiment with changes to her voice, and new types of music. In 2018, Obel struck a deal with the Deutsche Grammaphon company and created a compilation. 

In 2020, Obel released her fourth full-length album, entirely self-recorded: Myopia. 

Agnes’ first two albums were rich, dark, and intimate in style — the work of an artist discovering herself and her identity through the sorrowful song of a piano. These releases made Agnes a top-five artist in France, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 

Citizen of Glass was a massive departure from the artist’s original style as the first concept artist she created. She wanted to create a unique audio landscape with Citizen of Glass — something she definitely accomplished. 

Every song went through some form of processing, with one in particular referencing her family. 

Agnes Obel albums: An introduction

Agnes Obel albums are award-winning masterpieces with plenty of popularity worldwide. Obel won numerous awards for her first album, and the IMPALA album of the year award for Citizen of Glass in 2016. 

Here’s a quick insight into Anges’ albums…

Philharmonics (2010)

Philharmonics is  Agnes Obel’s first album , produced and published in 2010. Obel wrote, played, sang, and produced all of the music herself, aside from one song. 

She said that “orchestral and symphonic music never interested” her, and that she wanted to use music to tell a story in her album. 

According to Obel, the piano and her singing are two very separate but connected concepts in her music. 

When talking about  recording music in Denmark , she noted that Copenhagen has a very musical and professional environment, whereas Berlin (where she lives now) is more laidback. 

Philharmonics helped Agnes to win the 2012 European Border Breakers award, celebrating new talents in Europe who have connected with audiences beyond their home country. 

Aventine (2013)

Obel began working on  album number 2 in 2011 . During this time, she began experimenting with “new pieces” that were largely instrumental. She felt more inclined in her second album to let her piano do the talking. 

When producing Aventine, Agnes said she didn’t want to “disturb the melody with too many stories.” She recorded everything quite closely, with all sounds organized in a small room. Aventine was a chance for Obel to continue growing as an artist. 

It’s a beautiful record, where it’s clear to see that Obel is taking her time to let the beauty of every sound shine through. In October 2014, Obel released a deluxe version of the album with 3 new songs. 

Citizen of Glass (2016)

During the 2014 tour, Agnes began working on album number 3. This was also around the time that Agnes’ father died. 

When speaking about the third album, Agnes said that she wanted the record to sound exactly like her vision of “glass”. 

During an interview about the album, she said that there’s something “ powerful in pushing yourself ” over comfort boundaries and borders. 

Discover everything you know about famous landmarks in Denmark

When her father died, Agnes found writing music for Citizen of Glass cathartic. She said she couldn’t stop writing, and that every song felt personal to her. 

The music in Citizen of Glass is a fantastic insight into the artist’s decision to expand her musical boundaries. 

The use of new instrument pays homage to her late father, who she says taught her everything she knew about music. 

There’s a lot of percussion in this album, with a much louder power rhythm and new sounds to Agnes’ voice, as she plays with processing the sounds. 

Some of the songs in Citizen of Glass feature a male voice like an echo of Agnes’ sound. 

Myopia (2020)

Myopia is the most recent album from Agnes Obel, announced on the 29 th of October 2019, and released in 2020. The Myopia album further stretches the cinematic scope of Obel’s sound, while lyrically exploring the inner working of the human psyche. 

Myopia is the first album commissioned by the Blue Note Records company in North America as well as Deutsche Grammophon. 

Myopia is an immersive album that comes with a lot of interesting sounds to explore. She described the experience of creating the album to building a  bubble around herself . 

In an interview, Obel went on to say that she believes creating music means cutting yourself off from the outside world, so you can disappear into what you’re doing. 

The songs of Myopia explore a lot of ideas that are close to Obel herself. 

For instance, the Broken Sleep song addresses the feelings of a close friend of Anges’ who struggled with depression and issues with sleep. 

Get to know Agnes Obel

Agnes Obel is an inspiring Danish artist with incredible albums to explore. Her music moves through a clear evolution over the years, with new sounds appearing all of the time. 

Agnes seems to learn from every album she creates and put more of herself into each new song. 

With inspirations like Erik Satie, Roy Orbison, and even Edgar Allan Poe guiding her, Agnes takes a unique approach to her music. Many music fans describe elements of Kate Bush and Enya in her sound, which may be why she’s gained so much attention throughout Europe. 

Today, Agnes is an iconic figure in Denmark, as well as throughout Berlin, where she lives now. If you haven’t checked out one of her wonderful albums yet, we recommend that you grab your headphones and give them a try. 

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Scandification: Discovering Scandinavia.

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