What a great way to start 2026 with an electronic bang to find some real good music that’ll perk my earbuds with excitement. I came across this artist completely by accident on her Instagram page. It was a mixture of ‘80s pop, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Todd Rundgren, Goldfrapp, and Roxy Music’s Avalon-era rolled into one.
Her name is Gelli Haha. From the moment I watched a snippet of the video ‘Normalize’ I was in awe of the sound, her sense of humor, and the way it pays tribute to not just the late, great Paul Reubens, but a twist of a Fellini-sque vibration that swirls around the wonders she brings to the table.
Gelli’s is a stage name for Los Angeles-based artist named Angel Abaya who unleashed her debut EP Quaranmood six years ago and her debut album The Bubble back in 2023. Her use of the color red, is for its childishness wonders, comedic side, and receiving word of mouth from the major publications.
Her latest album entitled Switcheroo released on the Innovative Leisure label last year, invites listeners to the dance stand and get you on the floor, into the groove and experience the Switcheroo, start to finish. Not to mention some of the centrepieces on this album that’ll make your jaw drop unexpectedly at the right moment, at the right time.
‘Funny Music’ kicks things off into a sonic phase where synthesisers and electro-drum patterns fill up the rainbow-like sky to reveal all of the wonders and magic Gelli has inside her head that is out of this world. The beats get more thumped-up with the situation going back and forth that will make you go insane with the loop-like low, high, and low momentum to make you walk into the acid house on ‘Spit’.
‘Bounce House’ recalls the wonders of Ra Ra Riot and The Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible-era at their most indie-pop orientated arrangement whilst Gelli goes into this spoken-dialogue on what happened during the day of her life meeting this ‘Piss Artist’ before heading back into the playhouse once more dancing until the break of dawn for the ‘Tiramisu’ to begin.
Given her chance to shine, she captures the spirit of Alison Goldfrapp in her compositions which is evidential behind her own universal world of the ‘Gelliverse’ that speaks of synthio-birds and library music from the De Wolfe archives are proof of her creative genius as she honours the Avalon years from Roxy Music, creating her own sequel to ‘More Than This’ with the emotional tip of the hat to Bryan Ferry with ‘Dynamite’.
But with a B-52’s twist and Mark Mothersbaugh handling the production levels behind this track with a new wave vibration. How did I miss out on this album last year? I have absolutely no idea. But what an accomplishment Gelli herself has done to prove she’s not backing down without a fight.
