Heute erscheint Bloom, das tolle neue Album von WINONA OAK. Exklusiv für Popmonitor hat die Singer-Songwriterin aus dem schwedischen Sollerön die elf Songs kommentiert.
HORSES
This song is about mental health, friendship and having people around you who can be an anchor when everything feels overwhelming. I wrote it with my close friend Shelby Benjamin and I think there’s something really special about writing a song like this with someone who actually knows you and has been there for you. Horses have always represented a safe place for me too – something grounding, peaceful and connected to where I come from.
ANEMONE
“Anemone” was partly inspired by one of my favorite artists Leonard Cohen and by the way he could make love feel beautiful, spiritual and a little dangerous at the same time. The song is about what happens when you’ve learned to protect your heart so well that love itself can start to feel frightening. You build these defenses around the softest parts of yourself and then someone comes along who makes you want to open up again. Like an anemone, the heart can be delicate and protective at once. You can try to resist where love is taking you but sometimes there’s a pull you simply can’t avoid.
UNTIE ME
“Untie Me” is about that kind of attraction that completely throws you off balance. You’re trying to stay in control and act like you’re fine but underneath it there’s all this tension and you’re just waiting for the other person to finally do something about it. It’s basically that feeling of: please, come and get me already, I can’t keep pretending I don’t want this.
BONES
Bones is about having been through darkness and felt the weight of unbearable pain but still choosing to fully embrace life. It’s about growth, freedom and feeling every part of the human experience, because one day, all we’ll leave behind are bones. This song is a reminder to live deeply, love hard and not be afraid to truly feel alive.
BREAKING POINT
”Breaking Point” is about the moment when the illusion finally cracks. I wrote it from a place of realizing that sometimes we hold onto a version of someone that isn’t real, or a version of a relationship that only works because we’re overlooking what’s actually happening. Once that clarity hits you can’t unsee it, no matter how much you might want to go back. It’s about choosing honesty over comfort and recognizing the point where staying starts to cost you more than leaving. It captures that quiet but defining shift from holding on to finally letting go. Written together with two favorites Sandro Cavazza and Tudor Davies. Co-produced by my dear friend Martin Stilling, whose talent and perspective left a fingerprint on my entire album.
STAY THE NIGHT
This song captures the magnetic pull of desire – the moment you allow yourself to fall again, even while carrying old bruises. With aching honesty, the song explores the tension between surrender and self-protection.
DO YOU HATE ME
This song lives in that fragile space between love and goodbye – when you’re still holding on to the good memories even as the bad ones start to weigh more. You remember the warmth, the way it once felt safe – but now the air feels heavier, the silence sharper. It’s about realizing love shouldn’t feel like walking on glass, or like losing yourself a little more each day. It’s knowing you’re not walking away to hurt them, but because staying would mean losing the last pieces of yourself you still recognize. So you take one last look, one last breath, and you leave – not because you stopped loving them, but because something in you finally believes there’s a softer, truer kind of love still waiting for you somewhere.
FRIENDS
This song is about the friends who stay when everything else falls apart. The ones who have seen me at my lowest, held me through heartbreak, grief and all the moments when I’ve said “I’m okay” when I really wasn’t. Life has changed so much for me, but one thing I’ve always been able to count on is the people who love me enough to sit beside me through all of it. Sometimes you don’t need someone to fix you – you just really need your friends.
OUR TIME
“Our Time” is about having feelings for someone for a long time and trying to hide them or push them away. Then eventually you reach a point where you don’t want to do that anymore. You want to let it all out, say their name out loud and celebrate what you feel instead of being afraid of it. It’s about loving someone openly, through everything and realizing that maybe you were meant for each other all along.
NAIVE
“Naive” is about finally seeing a relationship for what it was. When you’ve been made to feel like everything is your fault for so long, you can start believing it. I gave someone chance after chance and kept questioning myself, until I got out and realized how unhealthy it had actually been. Then being treated with real care and respect was such a wake up call. The song is about that moment of clarity – and about how naive someone has to be to think they can still control you once you’ve finally seen through it.
NEXT MISTAKE
This song is about trying to stay away from someone because the connection feels almost too magnetic. “I go where you don’t” is that feeling of wanting to be close to someone, but choosing the opposite because you’re scared of how strong the pull is and where it might take you. I’m so happy Maye joined me on this song!! She brought it to life in such a beautiful way and made that push and pull feel even more alive.
WINONA OAK
Bloom
(Nettwerk Music Group)
VÖ: 23.10.2026
