Based between Madrid and Barcelona, Albal has a knack for seamlessly weaving between high intensity bass, to electro, to steamy progressive house. As one of the founding figures behind Madrid’s first femme forward, queer inclusive collectives, CHICA, and now proud co-parent of her new project, Girltoy, she has been an affluent figure in the underground dance scene and one to watch.
Can you tell us a little bit about the energy behind this mix, is there anything you would prescribe doing while listening?
When I started preparing the music for the mix I was going for more of a poppy vocally vibe, but then it came out with more sleazy electro vibes, which I love. I think recording mixes is always a depiction of what I’m doing in my life or vibing with. I usually enjoy listening to mixes the most when I’m taking a long walk or when I’m on the bus, but you do you.
CHICA really lived a wild time, making waves in the scene from 2017 until 2024 as one of Madrid's first femme-forward, queer-inclusive collectives. How did it come about and what led to its demise?
I started CHICA with my friend Rocío when we were only 18 years old, at the time it was so hard to find a space in the music scene in Madrid as a young girl, so we just did it ourselves. It’s a project that’s really close to me and that I feel very proud of, but as I grew up I found that the music I was drawn to, and the discourse around it, were pulling me in a new direction, and the rest of the collective was feeling the same way, so instead of trying to reshape it for something it wasn’t we just thought it was better to leave it as it was and focus on other things
And this leads us to Girltoy, your sexy new baby you co-parent with Juguete. How did this come to fruition and where do you hope to see it going in the not too distant future?
It also started from a very genuine idea of trying to create something that we were lacking in Madrid. We had a big visual and sonic imaginarium that we wanted to portray and thanks to Belén, our graphic designer, we made it happen and enjoyed the whole process so much. I love it because it’s very sincere and we just have a lot of fun working together, there’s no such thing as a bad idea when the three of us get together. We’ve met so many wonderful people thanks to Girltoy and I hope that’s what the future has in store for us, taking our sound to different places, making new friends on the way and enjoying every second of it.
“I love it because it’s very sincere and we just have a lot of fun working together, there’s no such thing as a bad idea when the three of us get together. ”
Who or what are some of your biggest influences that shape your sound today?
I would say mainly my friends, the djs and the unofficial djs. I learn so much from my friends, I’m so lucky to be surrounded by people with such good taste. But also not only focusing on parties or dj stuff, having an active mind and finding things through films, reading, talking to friends and people I just met is what keeps me connected to actually enjoying things and not only leaving things on the surface.
What’s next for Albal?
I hope I just keep doing what makes me happy, I think it’s really hard nowadays to stay connected to the things that you like the most and that make you feel real, all I want is to keep growing in a way that I’m able to keep learning, meet wonderful people and find music that keeps me going. And learning how to drive, I think it’s about time.
Stay up to date with Albal here.