Our May Artist To Watch Annabelle Dinda came by WXPN for Free At Noon this week, and boy did she put on a show. Dinda was all smiles in front of a densely-packed crowd Friday, and she was accompanied by guitarist Peter Enriquez and bassist Anna Young in The Lounge at World Stage Live.

The breakout singer-songwriter performed eight songs, seven from her new album Some Things Never Leave.

She jumped into the set with the album’s lead track “Big News Day,” and after the song shouted out her family who showed up to support her.

“Cosmic Microwave Background” came next and was followed by “London Plane Trees Grow in Philly,” which she said is partially about Philadelphia and New York City, where she now lives. For this song, she grabbed a guitar and let Enriquez shine with some lovely lead guitar work that complemented the song.

Dinda joked she has “cursed herself” with penning wordy songs, saying they are a joy to write but hard to sing.

She could have fooled those in attendance with that latter bit, as the entire performance had Dinda beautifully belting out her mesmerizing melodies that weave around her complex lyrical structures. Another skill that may go relatively unappreciated and unnoticed that Dinda has mastered is breath control — her lengthy lyrical phrases paired with her often lilting vocal melodies would be nearly impossible to nail without exercising an expert level of breath work.

Dinda dropped some lore from her new album, specifically the track “To Reconcile:” the song was written about her two nephews, both of whom were at the show, and said her sister and brother in law were not aware of that fact. Friday also marked the first time she performed the song live, which was written on piano but arranged for guitar for this gig.

She went on to play “Satellites,” her second most popular song on Spotify, which features a swell of instrumentation toward the back end.

Then came the song that took off on social media: “The Hand.” Dinda said the song was the impetus for much of where her career is at the moment. She thanked WXPN for playing the song, but it’s been our pleasure to share a local musician’s stellar work and see her get her flowers.

Her family joined her in singing the song, and other audience members started clapping along with the song’s driving rhythm. Enriquez and Young jammed to the song’s close, too.

Dinda shouted out WXPN again before playing the song “Blunt Force Bomb Dog,” from her 2025 EP ME-P, which was her first song ever to hit airwaves thanks to our own Dan Reed. She recalled her family gathering to hear it on air and that she shed a tear when she heard it on WXPN while walking home.

Annabelle Dinda bassist Anna Young | Photos by Max Bennett

Annabelle Dinda bassist Anna Young | Photos by Max Bennett

Her set ended with “The Body Remembers,” which she said was initially written after she slammed a knuckle in a pantry door but evolved to be about the feeling one gets when looking at a sunset. The final song was incredibly meaty lyrically and included some fun muted guitar “chukas” to serve as percussion in one section.

Dinda is about to embark on a massive tour in support of Noah Kahan, during which she’ll play a sold out Citizens Bank Park with June 26.

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