Winona Oak
Born and raised in the Nordic forests of Sweden on a small crop of land called Sollerön – known as the Island of the Sun – Winona Oak is every bit as enchanting as her origin story. With a childhood spent encountering more animals than people, she grew up a trained horse acrobat and pursued creative expression however she could, writing poetry and songs from a young age. Born into a musical family, Winona sang throughout her youth and began playing violin at 5 years old and piano at 9 years.

After moving to Stockholm to pursue her passion for music, a leap of faith to attend Neon Gold Records’ writing retreat in the Nicaraguan jungle in 2017 led her to Australian electronic maestro What So Not. She would go on to co-write his next two singles “Better” and “Stuck In Orbit”, eventually stepping into the spotlight as both the writer and featured artist on his 2018 single “Beautiful”, which took home the 2019 AIR Award for Best Independent Dance Single at the Australian Independent Music Awards.

Last year, Winona Oak covered “Don’t Save Me” from fellow Neon Gold Records signees HAIM for the label’s 10 year anniversary compilation: NGX: Ten Years of Neon Gold. The minimal production allows Winona Oak’s ethereal voice to shine through, slower than the original and drenched in ethereal melancholy. Now signed to Neon Gold / Atlantic Records, she closed out 2018 collaborating with The Chainsmokers on their viral hit single “Hope”, co-written by Winona and featuring her stunning lead vocals with over 350 million streams globally. Debut single “He Don’t Love Me” has been a runaway success, amassing 15 million streams across all platforms to date, and sophomore single “Break My Broken Heart” following suit amassed over 2 million views on the video alone.