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Multilingual singer Evangelia gets her inspirations from a childhood spent in both Greece and America, and meshes the sounds of her ancestral country with pop beats. Since 2020’s breakthrough singles “Páme Páme” and “��dzپ�á,” she’s issued singles at a steady clip and submitted tunes for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Evangelia Psarakis was born in New Jersey but spent every summer on her paternal grandmother’s farm on the island of Crete. This mix of European and American cultures stoked her interest in music from all over the globe, though singing was initially only something she did as a hobby, booking gigs at night after teaching in an elementary school by day. After budget cuts left her out of a job, she took the leap and became a full-time musician.

Working primarily with creative and romantic partner Jay Stolar, who’s collaborated with Selena Gomez, Carly Rae Jepsen, among others, Evangelia began experimenting with a style that combined electronic rhythms with the evocative sound of the bouzouki. Her earliest singles, 2020’s “Páme Páme” and “��dzپ�á,” respectively (translated to “Let’s Go, Let’s Go” and “Fire”) established those sonic cornerstones, trading English verses for Greek choruses (and adopting her mother tongue in full on alternate mixes). With a dash of social media savvy, she taped herself doing traditional dance moves to her songs and her fan base grew. A deal with Columbia followed.

Evangelia continued to release single tracks and remixes at a steady pace, submitting some of her catchiest tracks, like 2022’s “Onira” and 2023’s “��á����,” the latter a duet with Greek rapper Mente Fuerte, to represent Greece in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Other popular tracks include 2022’s “Miss You,” featuring her vocals on the chorus to a tune by German rapper Disarstar, and the dancefloor-ready 2023 cut “Let’s Go MIA.” The 2024 EP Alpha/Beta found her reflecting on some of her biggest successes, offering the English and Greek versions of “��dzپ�á,” “Onira,” and “��á����” on one disc. ~ Mike Duquette