Ari Abdul

“Well, I went to Catholic school. And there’s that whole story of Lucifer, the fallen angel…”That’s how Brooklyn-based singer Ari Abdul responds when asked about her fascination with inner demons, nighttime inspiration, and (from a style standpoint) all things androgynous and black. “We created this whole world behind that.” That world starts with Fallen Angel, her hotly anticipated debut EP that makes good on her trio of fantastically tortured romance singles — the narcotic slow-jam “BABYDOLL” the ethereal-pop “Stay” and the shimmering-seductive “TASTE.” Each has already gone viral thanks to her enthusiastic fanbase and the good graces of TikTok’s algorithm.

Her twisted narratives come to life either in her bedroom or in a Brooklyn recording studio. Abdul comes in with an emotion she wants the song to capture and collaborates with producer/best friend Thomas LaRosa to bring that to life. Sometimes it’s one word or a melody; other times, it’s an atmospheric production that LaRosa cooks up. But almost always, this inspiration happens only when they’re working through the night. “We create this whole world behind the concept of an emotion.”

Music is like a second language to her because growing up in Brooklyn, Abdul was surrounded by it. Her Ecuadorian mom listened to Latin albums, while her Costa Rican dad preferred classic rock. (He has some Palestinian lineage, which explains her last name.) Her older brothers, in contrast, were devotees of hip-hop and metal. Not surprisingly, today, Abdul lives and breathes music, as her social feeds — abundant in lip syncs and footage from other (and mostly punk) bands’ live shows — will attest. “I am a total fan girl” admits Abdul, who’ll embark on her first tour this Fall. “I would spend most of my life camping outside of venues if I could, trying to see my favorite artists”

Abdul picked up guitar at a very young age and graduated to an electric guitar by age 14, when she began grunge songs, inspired by Nirvana. “But I never shared it with anyone, because I was scared people would hate my voice” she says. “In high school, there was a big gospel choir. All my friends were in it. But I was, like, you know, ‘This is not for me.’” And it wasn’t, until July 2021, when LaRosa’s mom encouraged Abdul to create her own music. And that’s when she finally found her voice.

As its title suggests, Fallen Angel is a pop-noir work, levitated by alluring melodies and Abdul’s warm, luminescent vocals. “You have like these nice, lovely, innocent sounding songs.” she notes. “And by the end of the EP, the songs get really distorted and heavier, and the lyrics get darker.” Perhaps the EP’s most alluring quality is how it gives you glimmers into who Abdul is, mingling tenebrous fantasy with her personal story. “Maybe there’ll be an emotion or a little something that happens in my life in a song, but the EP is completely storytelling” she insists. Any mystery is by design. “We keep pretty melodies, but still have production and lyrics that completely contradict those pretty melodies.” Case in point, the sacrilegious “Cursed” which is also, Abdul gleefully points out, “a turning point in the EP. It’s admitting that my soul is dirty. There’s something wrong with me. But, you know, there shouldn’t be that much fear in that.” So it’s no surprise that “Hell Girl” is one of her favorite songs on the EP. “One of the tracks of my vocals on that song is just me yelling at the top of my lungs,” she enthuses. “It’s about, you know, just completely being this monster version of yourself.” It’s not autobiographical, but it’s also not entirely fictional. “You know,” Abdul adds contemplatively, “I am mostly agnostic.”

CONTACT INFORMATION

Matt Feldman
Management
matt@hrd8wrk.com

Dirk Hemsath
Management
dirk@hrd8wrk.com

David Conway
Management
conway@hrd8wrk.com