OSKA | HEAST!

A fact that made waves alongside their Amadeus Music Award 2022, nomination for the Anchor Award 2021 and the XA Export Award at WAVES Vienna 2020. So much so that international acts such as Tom Odell, Matt Simmons, SYML and Haevn took OSKA on tour with them. Throughout Europe. Almost all year round. These efforts paid off. Because at the beginning of 2023, OSKA first received a Music Moves Europe Award and immediately afterwards embarked on her first headlining tour through Germany and the Netherlands.

Another year later, OSKA not only makes itself heard with new music, but also with another debut. Her live debut in the USA at no less than 3 showcase festivals – the renowned SXSW in Austin, Texas, The New Colossus in New York City and the New New Festival in Dallas. And that’s just a particle of what’s happening. Because 2024 also has a lot in store for the Austrian musician. Over the course of the year, OSKA will be accompanying the likes of Christina Stürmer, Coldplay and Silbermond at their concerts. All steps on a journey that feels just as magical as OSKA’s music.

– OSKA BIOGRAPHY –

At the end of 2022, OSKA was at a turning point. The indie pop singer and songwriter had just finished a European tour with Tom Odell to present her highly acclaimed debut album My world, My love, Paris. During a trip through Sicily, OSKA (real name Maria) began writing new songs – the beginning of her forthcoming second album Refined Believer, the most personal of her career. It draws you in with her whispering soprano voice and holds you captive with intimate melodies that range from blissful calm to cathartic release.

After signing to Nettwerk in 2020, OSKA released her debut EP Honeymoon Phase the following year to critical acclaim. She received numerous industry awards, including the XA Music Export Award at the Waves Vienna Showcase Festival 2020 and five nominations for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, she was also nominated for the Anchor Award at the Reeperbahn Festival – where she was also discovered by jury member Tom Odell, who then invited her to join him on his European tour. In addition to touring with Odell, label mate Stu Larsen, Matt Simons and HAEVN, OSKA played at the Eurosonic Showcase Festival in 2023, where she won the Music Moves Europe Talent Award – an award that has already been given to artists such as Rosalía, Dua Lipa, Stromae, Hozier, Adele, Mumford & Sons and Christine and the Queens. In 2024, she made her debut at the SXSW Festival. The LUNA Collective called her “Vienna’s rising star”, while Indie Shuffle praised her as the “best act” and “crowd silencer”. In the summer, OSKA was invited to perform as a support act for Coldplay and Maggie Rogers on four nights in her home city of Vienna.

Part of OSKA’s journey to Refined Believer involved leaving her previous life in Vienna behind. She initially considered moving to Berlin, but – on the advice of a tarot card reading – decided against it. Instead, she temporarily moved in with her mother in the Austrian countryside and traveled regularly to London, where she worked on her new album with producer David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Marina Diamandis).
On the ten captivating songs of Refined Believer, OSKA deals with experiences of disappointing friendships and relationships before finally meeting someone who restores her faith. “One thing I’ve dealt with in my life has been trusting people again,” she explains of the album title and title track. “I feel like I can believe in something bigger than myself again – it doesn’t have to be anything religious. It just means that I’m finding the ability to hope again.”
This change in thinking is also reflected in her decision to leave Vienna and embrace the unknown. During her time in the country, OSKA was inspired to write the rest of Refined Believer. “I felt like nothing was holding me in Vienna anymore,” she says. “I found a kind of refuge here in the country, but I also kept commuting back and forth to London. It was such an interesting time because it was the first time in my life that I was really on my own. That was important to become independent and ask myself: ‘Okay, what music do I actually want to make?”

Refined Believer kicks off with The Final Straw, a gently plucked guitar song that soars with OSKA’s crystal clear “Oooh, oooh, oooh” choruses in the chorus. The song tells of the painful process of leaving a past relationship behind. “As a songwriter, you think you’re going to write 20 songs about it after a break-up. But I just couldn’t write about that relationship,” says OSKA. Instead, in The Final Straw, she describes a series of small, annoying mishaps – missing the train, leaving her favourite sweater on the bus – before finally realizing what’s really bothering her: “You didn’t love me back.” That’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. “It’s about this bigger feeling that you just can’t let go of,” she explains.
In the wistful April, May, July, OSKA grapples with loss and hope while spending a lot of time alone in London. “The song is about a couple of relationships that broke up and I had to say goodbye to – which was incredibly hard for me. But I still hoped that something positive could come out of it,” she says. “I almost lost those months just thinking about those relationships.”
The minimalist With Love, Your Clementine is a poignant ballad in which OSKA’s vulnerable voice floats above gentle guitar accompaniment and subtle background harmonies. “The song is very therapeutic and personal,” she says, “but on a bigger level, it’s also about something my parents always told me: ‘Don’t be afraid. They always expressed that in a poetic way when I was a kid, and I just wanted to remember that.”
OSKA brings more levity with Like A Song, which pulses with a lively drum machine beat. In it, she sings about someone who helps her “believe in something bigger than myself – you and no one else.”
“Like A Song was the first idea for my second album,” says OSKA. “I had a little guitar melody in my head in Sweden and saved it on my phone for two years.” The inspiration for the song and the album came from a person who still influences her positively today. “It’s an incredibly important and beautiful friendship.”

Forever Blue is also about deep friendship. The song was inspired by a car ride on New Year’s Eve with a childhood friend. “Both Forever Blue and Like A Song are about deep melancholy. Funnily enough, a lot of people think, ‘Oh, she’s so positive’ – and I love that. But I think there’s also a darker, sadder side that not many people see. And I think it will always be there. Forever Blue came about during a difficult time, but then I had this car ride with my girlfriend and we were just listening to music. We’ve known each other since we were four years old and somehow found each other again that night. I still think of it as one of the best days of my life.”
The rousing Gloria ultimately tells the story of a young woman who is in a damaging relationship and at the same time struggles with condemnation from the outside. “Everybody’s on her case, everybody’s on her case”, sings OSKA empathetically. But in the end, the protagonist frees herself. “Despite all the obstacles, it’s a story about resilience and self-liberation,” says OSKA.

With its heartfelt hope for renewal, Refined Believer shows OSKA at the beginning of something new – and in a new place. She hasn’t quite arrived yet, but her confidence that she will shines through every note of the album.