LiveOne
Once a national table tennis champion, Zak Abel swapped his bat for a guitar and never looked back. Born Zak David Zilesnick in London, England on March 1, 1995, the Moroccan-English music lover began learning the piano as a child but fell in love with table tennis. On course to become a professional sportsman, he decided to pursue music instead and, aged 15, picked up the guitar and began writing songs, posting videos of his performances online which led to a record deal with Atlantic two years later. In 2014, he contributed vocals to Top 20 hit single "Unmissable" by UK dance duo Gorgon City and in 2015 ushered in two EPs: his talked-about debut, Joker Presents, on which he harnessed a mature-sounding soul sound, and club-dipped One Hand on the Future. In 2016, Zak Abel worked with producers Kaytranada and Wookie for his debut album, Only When We're Naked, which was released in October 2017 and peaked at Number 100 on the UK charts. Showcasing 10 soul-pop gems, including the hip-hop and R&B-flavored "Rock Bottom" with north London rapper Wretch 32, the introspective album also yielded the singles "Unstable," "All I Ever Do (Is Say Goodbye)," "Only When We're Naked" and "The River." A handful of other singles followed, including "The Power" with dance music big-hitter Duke Dumont in 2019 and "Sad in Scandinavia" with Norwegian EDM duo Seeb in 2020. 2021 saw the release of Zak Abel's poppy, upbeat single "Be Kind."
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