Abie Lena Concert at the Cosmos Fest


A piano riff introduces miss Abie’s performance, it repeats as the lights of the stage are being lighten up, from the floor to the top of it as it was ascending, then an orchestra of violinists comes along the piano riff making it sound theatrical and so the introduction of the song “Phoenix” is complete, with backing vocal harmonies and the orchestral sound. Abie comes walking from behind the stage but only her silhouette is seen, till she arrives at her microphone placed in a pedestal, she gives the crowd a warm welcoming smile and they give her back cheers and screams. She then begins to sing the haunting notes of the track, it is hypnotizing, and the whole crowd gets quiet to listen to Abie’s magnetic vocal performance. Abie is wearing a sleeveless nude color short dress, high heels and a short hair. It’s very impressive how short Abie is compared to other elements of the stage such as her band or any member of the orchestra behind her, yet she is classy and her voice transcends her physic appearance for such powerful high notes and emotional interpretation added to the theatrical concept of this song is such a smart start for Abie who’s been away off a stage ever since she toured at the “No Venues Tour” in 2013.
Coming right after is the new jazz, soft rock inspired track “Epitaph” and so Abie loses all of that theatrical gestures of the first song she performed, in this next one she is enjoying the vintage melodies and she sings it quite funny smiling to the crowd and boucing her body to the groove of the drums. The song obviously has a dark theme attached to its lyrics, but it is also ironic and acid and it seems that Abie understand her compositions so well that she uses her body to express the feelings of the song, the crowd is having a blast with her performance so far, when she ends the second track she catches her breath and talks with her fans for a few seconds.

- What a wonderful night to be with you guys. – Brief pause for cheers – I’m feeling you, it’s been sometime I haven’t seen you and I was so excited to perform for you again, it’s such a pleasure for me to be here tonight at such an amazing Festival like this. - another brief pause - They told me that you are all over 21, so I'm allowed to say "fuck, I'm at the Cosmos Fest!" - The Corwd cheers and Abie begins the next song.

The stage gets dark and the orchestra plays the introduction for the hit single “Dead For a Reason”, the crowd goes insane and the stage is lighten up quickly revealing Abie standing with her microphone in hands, no pedestal anymore. She walks from corner to corner of the stage, slowly smooth and sexy, because the song is quite sexy, the stage also receives a red light element which makes it look even sexier than it would look without the lights. Abie enjoys the performance again, she is a little fancier while singing it compared to the previous track, but she is smiling and waving her left hand to the crowd. she sings Tisha’s Jackson part of the music, as she did while she was touring last year, Abie doesn’t use so much visual effects, her concerts are focused on vocal performance, in her last album she did ventured herself with baroque pop and so she was accompanied by an orchestra while touring, but that was far the biggest visual aspect of her live concerts, usually it’s basically Abie, her band and a bunch of light effects. To the fans delight the following track is the smash hit “You make me die”, Abie almost can’t be heard, because the crowd sung the entire song with her and even louder than her, in the first chorus of the track Abie even pointed her microphone to the crowd and let them to sing it for her while she pressed her other hand on her heart in a kind gesture of love and complacency with her audience. The performance is such nostalgic for both Abie and her fans, because they all sing along with her and she seems touched by the beautiful love she is receiving from them.
For the next song Abie sits in a piano and all the lights are resumed to just light her sited on that piano. She begins to play an introduction melody of a song presented on her second studio album “Seasons”, the song is the homonymous track of that album, a few fans in the crowd recognize and as Abie plays that almost one minute and a half introduction melody they cheer for her briefly, till all the crowd gets quiet so Abie can poor all her solitude out.



The emotions emanated from the first lines of the song bring a lot of people in the crowd to tears, the song is extremely intimate and sad, although Abie learnt to handle her emotions so her vocal performance remains perfect, the level of interpretation of her own lyrics is the best part of her performance, she manages to play the piano the same time she sings the song, and she does that till the first chorus when an additional orchestral sound is added to the song, but its subtle and the crow dis already touched and enchanted by Abie and her huge vocal range and ability to transmit feelings and emotions through her performance. When she finished the song she takes a sip of water and briefly talks with the crowd, still sited on that piano.

- This song is one of my favorites of my entire repertoire, time will pass and I’ll still be singing and avidly feeling it. But let’s move on with the show, this next one I want you all beautiful fans to sing along with me.

Another fan favorite and smash hit, “Cold Spring” is quickly recognized due to its unmistakable piano riff, Abie knows her fan so much, the moment she starts to play she already smiles in reception of her fans love for her singing a remarkable song of her career. The crowd once again sing louder than Abie most of the song, so Abie can’t be heard in the choruses and even in the bridge of the song, she once again, points the microphone for her fans so they sing parts of the song alone. The original song sound more intimate than this live performance, because in the middle of it, the orchestra comes along with the original melodies and the song increases to something bigger and theatrical. This performance is also marked by Abie incredible high notes, she managed to raise her voice powerfully and without losing her breath, making the crowd cheer insanely. Despite the years of her debut, Abie still has a strong vocal range and she can still sing her old songs just like she used to do before.
After the performance the stage gets dark again and the orchestra takes control of the performance once more, the introduction of the track “Again” is played and so the stage is lighten up all in blue and Abe is standing behind the pedestal ready to please her fans with another theatrical breathtaking performance. It’s clearly Abie’s theatrical references when she sings her baroque pop songs, it’s almost if she was a character of a Broadway Spectacle. Her voice is once again the strong point of this performance, she manages to sing above the ascending melodies of the orchestra and her fans remain quiet listening to Abie’s powerful voice. In the end of the performance Abie holds a note for ten seconds and her fans go crazy for that. When she finishes it, they start clapping for her. She talks with them again.

- Thank you – she waits the clapping stop – Now I’m gonna get my guitar and go back to my folk roots. This is “The Same Tear”



“The Same Tear” is another smash hit that Abie can barely sing because of her fans loud voices, well she sings the whole performance this time, but her fans sing along with her as loud as her. The curious case in this performance is that Abie is actually playing the guitar of it and the whole stage receives a yellow / brown tone which reminds us the desert and so the western folk influence that Abie told her fans about. It’s also another praised performance because of Abie’s ability to transmit the feelings through her vocals, she is skilled musician, she writes and produces her music and she knows it so well that she dominates every note and every piece of her music. Right after the end of the performance she gives the guitar back to her stage assistants and she grabs the microphone off the pedestal to perform “No Love”
It is not a recognized track, but it did receive a music video last year although it was not released as a single. The structure of this song I quite simple, with piano and Abie’s vocal, but the best part of this performance is the switch on Abie’s mood and interpretation, she was only singing sad songs and now she is so ironic and acid and sexy at the same time, she has that ability to change her expressions as the song’s theme and “No love” is about a girl who loves her man’s money. Abie uses the stage on her favor, by walking through it as if she was seducing someone, she might be a classical singer but sometimes she has glimpse of sexiness and her fans seem to love those moments. Before the next song, she once again briefly spoke with her fans.

- Thank you so much for watching me perform for you guys, I had a blast tonight and I want to tell you that we're all gonna see us again really soon, my forth album is coming out in a couple of months and I hope I'll be touring the world and meeting you all great and amazing fans! but as for this last song I want to invite my musicians to get near me in this performance.



Abie’s band mates get near giving her an acoustic guitar, to perform the song “Beloved”. It is another track that received a music video last year without being released as a single. The band circles Abie with their instruments, only the drummer remained don his place, obviously and the orchestra too. This was quite a fun performance, Abie and her band mates jamming that Bossa Nova track. They all smile to each other and they play their instruments perfectly as Abis sings the lines of the beautiful track, such good is their chemistry. The crowd seem to enjoy the performance and when it ends Abie quickly leaves the stage with her acoustic guitar and her band mates kept playing the song’s melodies non-stop, for another two minutes, the crowd didn’t understand what was going on, but obviously they would amend the encore track with that continuous instrumentation, and it was taking another shape and sound, it was receiving a jazz influence and suddenly Abie was back without the acoustic guitar, but holding her microphone in hands to perform “Fake Plastic Life.
Another nostalgic moment of the night, Abie performing her very first single, bouncing her body to the jazz melodies of the song as if she was back at the 50’s, the crowd goes insane for her, she might look tired a little bit, but she didn’t fail on her vocals once again, she holds the high notes still manages to surprise her fans with the level of accuracy her vocals has to sound as like the recorded voice of the actual record. She ends the performance waving kisses to her fans and smiling for them as she leaves the stage and a rain of silver paper falls down on them.

Set List

1. Phoenix (Extended Intro)
2. Epitaph
3. Dead For a Reason
4. You make me die
5. Seasons
6. Cold Spring
7. Again
8. The Same Tear
9. No love
10. Beloved
Encore
11. Fake Plastic Life

WHERE IMMORTALS LIVE

The official release of this song which was set as the lead single of Abie Lena's fourth studio album, finally see the sun! Despite the singles leaked three weeks ago and the plans to release it were scrapped, once the whole album was made available worldwide today, this track can be purchased and requested on radio starting now.
Abie did not make so much promo for this fourth album, but we can confirm that she is going to have a busy week ahead of her with the announcement of a worldwide tour and an interview for a famous TV channel. The album "The Grim History of Love" is available worldwide on ITunes and Amazon.com or as a physical CD and Vinyl on music stores. You can Stream the album by click in here.

There’s a beautiful wedding happening in this marvelous Gothic Cathedral, the bride wearing a white dress with a long veil and the groom wearing a black tuxedo, both just said the word “yes” as they turn to each other, the bride which comes to be Abie, smiles at her lover with tearful eyes, clearly imagining to live the rest of her life beside that man, but that doesn’t seem to be the same thing the groom is reflecting with his face expression, he looks sad and a little bit sorry for doing that.

The scene changes to a desert beach in the twilight, with blue tones and Abie walking in the sands of this beach singing the song’s lyrics, this is the only scene where Abie actually lip-sync the song’s lyrics, which appears frequently throughout the video interspersing with the story line scenes.

After the wedding scene, the life of that couple has kept monotone and routinely, this scene shows Abie cooking for her husband and her kids as he arrives home after a day working, he sits at the table and they have a quite normal dinner time, all together. Abie still looks in love of that man and he still looks like he didn’t want to be in that place, later the scene changes to the family watching TV, Abie leaning on her man’s chest and her two kids next them in the second sofa of the living room, as Abie looks to her man eyes, she knows he’s not thinking about her, and suddenly his phone rings and he leaves the room with a big smile on his face leaving Abie alone with their kids. Abie knows his cheating on her.

Another brief interspersing with the beach scene and the couple life storyline resumes back again, now they all look a bit older than they looked in the beginning of the video, Abie and her husband are arguing and the song stops right at that moment when she orders him to leave the house, as he leaves and knocks the door strongly, a portrait of Abie, her husband and their two now young adult kids, falls on the ground. Abie lies on the ground crying holding the portrait on her hands.

The music resumes after the dramatic scene and now Abie husband is laid in bed with another woman, as she sleeps, he’s looking at the roof of the bedroom he is with that another woman, she suddenly awakes and she looks at him also knowing that he’s thinking about Abie. He looks older than what he looked when he was arguing with Abie, it certainly represents that a lot of time has passed since that scene, the camera also shows a portrait of himself and his two now adult kids, Abie is not in this portrait anymore.

Abie once again appears in the beach, but this time the scene is longer than before, Abie is heading to a pier, where a boat is waiting for her, she kept singing the song lines as she gets near that boat, it represents her journey to the other side, she is dead obviously, but it’s not revealed when she died, she embarks on the boat and they disappear in the fog, Abie was leaving that mortal word. The song is finished.

But the video didn’t end, at the same time Abie is disappearing into that fog, there’s a scene of an old Abie laid in a hospital bed surrounded by her now adult kids, as they wait the cardiac monitor stops.

Inside the Record

...Journey to the Fourth Album...

“When I was hired by Studio60 and we were starting to work on my debut album, I remember that I spent three months taking singing classes because the songs we were going to record were extremely vocal. They would require from me, breathe control and a lot of other things that I was not used to do, because I was an inexperienced singer. So it’s safe to say that the first album was made to make an impression on people because of its powerful vocal performances. At tour I had some issues performing those songs live, because they were really loud and I would often lose my breath or I ended up hoarse, we consider this fact while we were making my second album “Seasons”. Obviously for an artist that achieved success with its debut, the second album might be a defining moment for its career too, you will either failure or succeed depending on the quality of that work and we had that in mind, so “Seasons” were a deeper album, personal and raw, I would still perform powerful vocals but mainly people would focus on its lyrical content, I was stripped down with those personal lyrics. Then I got sick and I found an opportunity to make a third record out of my miserable situation. “The End Starts Now” brings elements from “Love and Heartbreak” and “Seasons” but it goes beyond what I was used to do, if you analyze its music. So I like to call it the experimental album, I was safe to sing jazz and soul, but what if I add some baroque pop and indie pop elements to it? It was a Gia-Rose idea and she was damn right. So you ask me now, how can I classify “The Grim History of Love”, well I tell you that this album is about the artistry, that’s the reason we didn’t plan a big promotion schedule for it, it’s for the diehard fans who wanted to listen to highly produced music. The idea behind it was to make it classical, epic in a way that people would never forget it. I was able to exercise my skills as an artist, I had time to really study the nuances of each song we were creating and to find reasons for them that would cross my private world, so it does not have the feeling that it is so personal as my other projects were, this is more worldly wide. I was told that the fourth record for an artist, it’s when he or she can really make the music they always dreamed to.”

...Inspiration...

“I worked for three years in a row, till I finished the ‘No Venues Tour’ and I was able to take some vacations with my mom and sister. We were planning this trip to the Far East for a long time but we were never able to do it, because of contract demands and other personal issues, but we finally could and it was a life changing experience for all of us. We first traveled to India and that is one of the most spiritual places on earth, the sense of religion on people who lives there is bigger than anyone I had seen before, they really believe in their gods and I saw some of their philosophies save people from drugs and depression, just by teaching them meditation, so they’ll feel connected to their spirit. I learnt a lot while we were there and I also questioned myself a lot, because one of the first stages of self-recognition is questioning yourself and I can tell you that my beliefs changed, one of the reasons this album is about life after death or karma, it’s because of this experience. I plan to comeback one day really soon, perhaps after I tour. It would be a dream come true to take the tour there, even though my music won’t be much appreciated there.”

...Creating a Conceptual Album...

“You organize and plan a vacation, you tell your managers and your team that you won’t be making music anytime soon and suddenly you only traveled three months and you’re back in a studio with everyone else recording a fourth album. It was sort of what happened with me. I came back from that trip with the concept for this album in my mind, I needed to express those ideas on paper, so the moment I got home I started to write like crazy. I wrote like twenty tracks in two months. They all came out so easily, it was me the piano and the scores until I brought someone outside in.
I met Rick Rubin when I was making my debut album, he was a sound engineer and a producer of folk music. We have this connection of father and sister in music, because I attend all of his demands when he’s producing me, it’s like if he was my father telling me to not drop the milk on table and I say, yes sir. So the work with him it’s easy. Because I’m hard, you know, I like to keep my music under my control, but I let go when he’s in the room. We re-worked on all of those twenty songs I wrote and they were not twenty songs anymore, they fifteen. I never thought it was kind of easy to make a conceptual album, we have seen some amazing conceptual albums out there, like Reported Failure’s Rome and by the level of production and quality of that material, I always have the sense that it would be impossible for me to dedicate myself and make a conceptual album, but this album came out so easily like any other album I have made. By the time we had all the fifteen demo recorded, it was time to bring the idea for the record label. I was not scared, the first time I would show a demo track and I was not scared or afraid they would reject, because I was so certain that it was the right way to take my career and they all loved it. We showed them four track among them ‘I’m sad’ which was supposed to be the first single of this album if Gia hadn’t come up with the idea of making ‘Where Immortals Live’. Obviously Gia knows what she’s doing, and she’s being taking care of my career ever since I started out, we have this ‘trust’ in one another. I was gifted by Studio 60 to become the executive producer of the album, that’s why I didn’t want to bring so many producers, I really wanted to have everything under my control and I think I made it, only people that I admire and love worked on it, so I can say that even though the album themes are not my life, I do feel so close to it.”

...The New Sound...

“We added so many flavors to the songs of this album, there is the jazz, old soul music that I always loved and what made me recognized worldwide. There is pop rock and folk which by the way is a genre that I always enjoyed listening and at last there’s the sound we worked on my third album, baroque pop, orchestral pop, I like how dramatic they all sound, how theatrical, I wonder if is there any Broadway producer who’ll make of this album a spectacle. It would so flatter to watch it. Too much for my ego, but I like the way it ended, we worked so hard and it was such a pleasure to add all of these elements and see the final product as it is, ‘cause it might sound depressive, well that’s actually how my work sounds, but it is quite epic too and there’re very subtle textures added throughout it which can be heard even better if you wear headphones, turning the experience really pleasurable in my perception. I wanted this to really take its listeners to the story behind the melodies, the story told on those lyrics, I think we’ve accomplished that.”

...The New Writing...

“The storyline behind the lyrics of the songs are just as they really are. I mean, it’s easy to follow the story and what happens with the characters of the story, because the lyrics are explicitly telling the story. People won’t need to pay too much attention on the inner lines of the tracks because there is no other meaning behind the lyrics if not the story created and imagined for the concept behind this album and we wanted to be that way, because conceptual albums must tell a story and the way the melodies work so well one after the other, so the lyrics and the story should flow as well. The only song that does not follows the line of the story is actually the first one, because it was meant to be that way, it’s a summary for what the fans would get to listen to in the rest of the album. There’s even an epilogue, which sort of completes “Where Immortals Live” adding that after everything that happen, the characters still feels and remembers the suffering that went through. Obviously we only can imagine a love story like that, because we don’t know in fact if there is a heaven, or purgatory or hell, it’s up to us to believe in such things, but I like that it does talks about life and love after that because I believe in that.”

...by Abie

Stream “The Grim History of Love” Click Here

Abie chat via phone with Ryan Secrest this morning about her last night at the FCA and her currently world tour. Check the short interview bellow.

Ryan: Last night we had the Fan Choice Awards full of surprises and incredible performances amongst them, Abie Lena performed and won the best album award with her latest release and despite she has a very tight schedule due to her current world tour and tonight’s San Jose concert we managed to have her on the phone this morning, so good morning miss Lena.

Abie: Good Morning Ryan.

Ryan: Thank you for waking up early to talk with us.

Abie: It’s a pleasure, thank you for having me.

Ryan: Last night was quite of a shocker for you, I guess, ‘cause despite your performance, you won the best Album award and you were visually shocked I can tell.

Abie: Yeah it was, you know, I was not expecting it, so many great albums released this year and having an artistic record like “The Grim History of Love” winning an award show that’s voted by fans, was unbelievably incredible, I felt so lucky to have the fan base that accompanies me through the years.

Ryan: And it all happened so fast for you, it was like a whole segment of the show dedicated to your name, let’s be honest, you performed, then Suzie played with you and later comes Daniel to announce the best album and there you go to receive it, quite a moment, did you feel any embarrassment towards Suzie’s jokes about you weight loss?

Abie: Not at all, I mean, these award shows, they always make fun of celebrities and people knows my story so it was fine for me, I would never take that on a personal level.

Ryan: Well she was right in some way, because your performance was very sexy! Who decided to have that kiss at the end?

Abie: *Abie slightly laughs on the phone* well during the rehearsals of the performance Jude came up with the idea of making the kiss at the end of it, the concept was to bring an extra visual aspect for the performance, so we brought this cabaret scenario, the dim lights and the dancing and me being kissed by Jude, it was quite a moment I have to admit.

Ryan: But we never saw you and Jude Law together before, when did you meet him?

Abie: Jude is an old friend of mine, I met him a really long time ago, I was at his weeding, we’re really good friend and we wanted, me and the director, to have a Hollywood actor featuring on the music video, later I invited him to perform the track with me at the FCA.

Ryan: I saw the video and it is really beautiful, in fact you’re always was a visual artist in my opinion.

Abie: I agree, I think videos can be another approach for a music, it increases its longevity and it also can put meanings and representation to what is being sung, so it is suitable for me to have videos for my singles, I think my fans expect that kind of promotion, we did like six of seven videos for my last album and the response was really incredible.

Ryan: Now talking about your career, you’ve been doing this for a while now, four studio records, one live album and finally a world tour, have you stopped to think about your beginning and the status that you have now?

Abie: I try not to, because I always have the sense that each new record it’s a new beginning for me, it makes me humble and it keeps me on the ground. Fame can be isolating and it can strike your brain and make you feel that you are something and I am sure for some reasons that we’re nothing to think that we are something special. You know what I mean.

Ryan: in some point, well people always talk about you for your charisma and your charming shyness.

Abie: Awwn thanks Ryan.

Ryan: It’s true, but we’ve seen you blooming in this business, despite you’re still the same as you’re telling me, now you are a successful singer with some longevity.

Abie: I never thought I would be here after so many years and still being reliable, so I only have to thank the people who works with me and tries to keep the quality in my work and obviously the fans who’s always there supporting me.

Ryan: Nice, you’re in San Jose right now, you have a sold out concert tonight, Bianca Moretti is opening for you, how’s touring so far?

Abie: Absolutely amazing, tiring, I’m not gonna lie, for a lazy person like me, it is really tireless, but the joy and the emotions of each night it’s incredible and we’re only in the first dates of it, there’s a long road ahead. I’m glad a talent like Bianca is travelling with me, I think our fans are similar, we share some people who enjoys both of our music and that’s the main reason we invited her to join us, it’s being an amazing experience.

Ryan: Really nice talking with you Abie, congrats on the winning, congrats on the performance and good lucky with the tour.

Abie: Thank you Ryan.

Ryan: Bye.