Los Angeles singer, songwriter, DJ and producer Anabel Englund knows that the only way to keep your sanity during this lockdown is to stay busy. She’s preparing for the release of the Messing with Magic EP later this year by dropping a string of singles on MK’s Area10 label through Ultra Music, all carefully coordinated.

“I have a bunch of songs ready to go,” Englund says. “I have these 12 songs, so what would sound good during this month? OK, May is starting to get hotter — let’s drop this track then. Now, it’s summertime. Let’s drop the most fun, upbeat light, airy songs. So I have a whole schedule based on the way it sounds sonically and the time of year. It’s great that I have so much music to plan this time with.”

The multi-talented musician describes her sound as sexy house, a term that applies to her DJing and her singing/live performances.

“I like music that just sounds sexy and full, and bassy,” she says. “Twinkly. I feel like my voice and the things I sing about, and the vibe when I’m performing, also compliments my DJing. It’s interesting because a while ago, someone was like ‘I’m interested to hear what your DJ sound is,’ and I was like, ‘Me too!’ The more I’ve been playing, it’s like ‘Basically it just sounds like how I like to perform.’ I like to be sexy, groovy, and that’s exactly how my DJing sounds. It goes hand in hand for sure.”

Englund’s “So Hot” dropped in April, and it’s currently number one on the Dance Airplay charts (and number two on the Billboard Dance/Mix Show charts). May 22 will see the release of a track with Lee Foss called “Warm Disco.” Again then, she’s staying busy.

“Everything’s picking up for me in quarantine, which is crazy,” she says. “All of this gets me outside of my normal mental thinking. Like, ‘I’m going to be a couch potato today — oh wait I can’t because I have a call at 1:30. I need my brain to be on.’ It’s been good.”

 

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