Winona Oak

When Swedish singer/songwriter Johanna Ekmark (aka Winona Oak) isn’t lending her vocals to other electronic/pop artists, she has her own form of minimal, laid-back pop to sing over. Born and raised in Sollerön — a small crop of land to the north of Stockholm known for its forests — in 1994, Ekmark was surrounded by music; her grandma performed in the Swedish Royal Orchestra, inspiring Ekmark to take up violin at age five and piano at nine. In her teenage years, she trained as a horse acrobat, writing poetry on the side. Eventually she moved to Stockholm to pursue a career in music. She was snapped up by Neon Gold/Atlantic Records in 2018, who put her in touch with What So Not and the Chainsmokers to collaborate on “Beautiful” and “Hope,” respectively. Her debut single was released later the same year, in the form of the Haim cover “Don’t Save Me.” The single was featured on Neon Gold’s tenth anniversary compilation, NGX: Ten Years of Neon Gold. ~ Liam Martin