Jouska finds clarity in confusion on new album How Did I Wind Up Here?
Oslo-based artist Jouska (Marit Othilie Thorvik) has released her sophomore album How Did I Wind Up Here? today (October 17, 2025) via Koke Plate. Written across New York City, Los Angeles, and Oslo, the album marks a deeply personal evolution for the Norwegian artist—one that transforms anxiety and melancholy into a lucid dreamscape of electronic pop, trip-hop, and shoegaze influences.
Produced by: Marit Othilie Thorvik
The ten-track collection radiates with subdued emotion, exploring the space between paralysis and self-realization. Thorvik’s intimate vocals—whispered like fragments from the subconscious—glide through layers of shimmering synths and soft percussion. The production feels at once crystalline and hazy, reinforcing the record’s central tension: the desire to be seen and the urge to disappear.
Standout moments arrive early. ‘Flower Moon’ evokes the weight of an endless winter, its lush textures capturing the ache of emotional fatigue. On ‘Liquid Red,’ Thorvik examines detachment—the kind that emerges when someone familiar grows spiritually distant—while ‘California’ offers a rare glimmer of brightness, tracing the alien sense of welcome she felt during a trip to Los Angeles. Elsewhere, ‘Season of Dread’ juxtaposes glittering synths with a pulse of quiet anxiety, balancing fragility and control.
“I’ve always been emotional, anxious, and melancholic by nature, but during that time everything felt especially heavy. I was caught in cycles of anxiety, depression, and self-doubt. I couldn’t seem to make the present work — and when I looked back, I felt grief over all the years I felt had slipped away. The past and the present blurred. I didn’t feel like I was moving forward — I was just stuck inside myself.”
How Did I Wind Up Here? was co-written and co-produced with Thorvik’s partner, Hans Olav Settem, who contributed guitar, bass, and synthesizer. The record also features collaborators Elias Tafjord (Why Kai, Sassy 009), Bård Kristian Kylland (GiddyGang), Fredrik Svabø (Aurora), Sunniva Lilian Shaw Tordarroch (Benedikt), and Anna and Elektra Kilbey-Jansson (Say Lou Lou). Mixed and finalized with care, the album’s production remains pristine yet organic, glistening with the introspective beauty that has become Jouska’s signature sound.
How Did I Wind Up Here? is available now on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, and Tidal.
Standout Songs: ‘Flower Man,’ ‘Season of Dread,’ and ‘California.’
Release Date: October 17, 2025
7.8
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