Ian Abel

“Mesmerizing, powerful, enchanting… He is bringing his own personal touch to the music scene.” — Wolf In a Suit

Ian Abel (pronounced “able”) is the queer fantasy lovechild of an East Village comic book nerd with a heart of gold. With an oh-so-smooth velvety voice and sensual, psychedelic electro-pop arrangements, he’s like if Sam Smith met Robyn or Jessie Ware met James Blake, all with a side of Peter Gabriel.  He’s not just your standard indie voice.

Ian has been described as “a stalking panther moving slowly forward, sure-footed, graceful, and intentional, with its gaze locked on its prey; but also the panther is in outer space.”

Ian released his debut EP Icarus in 2016 and has since become a fixture in the New York alternative pop scene, including packed shows at Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Goldsound's, and Lovecraft Bar.  His songs and videos have been featured on Howl & Echoes, Wolf In a Suit, Clout, Indietronica, Milk Crater, Cougar Microbes, and Spotify’s Fresh Finds.

The latest Ian Abel project is a series of singles slated for release in 2020, starting with the May 8th premiere of "Taste," which is accompanied by a music video co-directed by Ian Abel and filmmaker Kyle Clark and featuring over a dozen NYC-based artists and performers of all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and vibes.

Ian Abel was brought up in the East Village of NYC, raised on a steady diet of R&B, soul, and alternative rock. As an effeminate little 4th grader, he grooved to Destiny’s Child, bopped to the Spice Girls, and plumbed the depths of angst with Alanis. He was raised by a single mother and is, to this day, a complete and utter mama’s boy.

For well over a decade, Ian has been an artist and performer.  He has performed around the world and with greats like Nile Rodgers, Jimmy Fallon, and the SNL band. He has sung onstage at Carnegie Hall, on Chinese national television, and in festivals in Sun Valley, New York, and Edinburgh.

Ian began singing professionally in 2009 as part of a very stodgy singing group, the Yale Whiffenpoofs, and began writing and performing original music in 2013 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston.  Since moving back to New York in 2014, he has become an installation at venues all across the city, most frequently the famed Rockwood Music Hall in the Lower East Side.

In addition to being an artist and singer, Ian is an educator, activist, burner, and all-around creative kid.