A soft cry of freedom, OSKA’s latest single “Gloria” is an achingly intimate and beautifully tender song of redemption and self-liberation – a soul-stirring indie pop reverie that radiates quiet strength and captures the heart of her upcoming sophomore album, ‘Refined Believer.’
Stream: “Gloria” – OSKA
In many ways, it captures the heart of my upcoming album ‘Refined Believer’ – a journey through disillusionment, survival, and slowly rediscovering trust in human connection.
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“Now she’s singing hallelujah, hallelujah,” OSKA sings in her latest single, her tender voice full of raw emotion.
It’s a soft cry of freedom, of release, of a woman stepping into her own light.
Achingly intimate and beautifully tender, “Gloria” is a soul-stirring indie pop song of redemption and reclamation, of owning your truths and embracing your quiet power. It’s a stirring portrait of survival and self-liberation, and in many ways, it captures the heart of OSKA’s upcoming album, Refined Believer – a journey through disillusionment, survival, and the slow rediscovery of trust in human connection. With “Gloria,” OSKA reminds us that even in our most fragile moments, there is strength waiting to rise.
You met her in the deep forest
She was singing “Gloria”
Voice of an angel,
not a day over nineteen
Hallelujah
You told her about the
mystic lunatics inside your house
“Come on over, baby”
“Be the lady I’ll keep safe and sound”
Pretty little thing
Changed your life
You made her a ring
and caught her brown eyes
While her father he was up all night
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Gloria,” the sixth and final single taken from OSKA’s forthcoming sophomore album, Refined Believer (out June 20th via Nettwerk). A stunning culmination of the album’s themes, “Gloria” channels heartache, resilience, and renewal into a song that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. OSKA’s tender vocals and evocative storytelling invite listeners to witness a journey of breaking free, standing tall, and reclaiming one’s sense of self.
Set to a warm, steady groove, the song follows a young woman caught in the snare of a toxic relationship and the suffocating judgment of those around her. But beneath the weight of expectation and shame, resilience blooms: Gloria reclaims her life, her voice, and her freedom, walking away from the past without looking back.
“Now everybody’s on her case, everybody’s on her case,” OSKA (aka Maria Burger) sings in the song’s chorus, capturing the crushing weight of public scrutiny, while also hinting at the quiet determination building beneath it, as Gloria readies herself to break free. “Made her the big story of a small town, haven’t you heard?” she continues, weaving a portrait of a woman forced into the spotlight, her every move dissected and criticized.
Now everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Made her the big story of a small town
Haven’t you heard?
Haven’t you heard?
Now her name is Gloria
Doesn’t know what she’s in for
Yet even as the world closes in around her, Gloria finds the strength to walk away, reclaiming her name, her story, and her future. “Haven’t you heard? Now her name is Gloria, doesn’t know what she’s in for,” OSKA adds, underscoring the tension between innocence and experience, between the version of Gloria the world thinks it knows and the woman she’s becoming. By the time she’s “singing hallelujah, like she’s never heard your name before,” Gloria has shed the weight of judgment and heartbreak, stepping fully into her own hard-won freedom.
Put her clothes inside the garbage bags
Kids waiting in the car
She drove to her parent’s house
Told you she’s going to the store
Pretty little thing
Got away
Sold the ring, oh, she is such a whore
And bought herself a couple more
It’s a powerful, emotionally charged narrative – one that holds a dear place in OSKA’s heart.
“This song ‘Gloria’ follows a young woman who finds herself in a long, damaging relationship while dealing with the harsh judgment of those around her,” the Austrian singer/songwriter explains. “Despite the obstacles and the weight of public opinion, it becomes a story of resilience and self-liberation as Gloria finally decides to walk away, choosing her own path without concern for what others may say.”
“In many ways, it captures the heart of my upcoming album Refined Believer – a journey through disillusionment, survival, and slowly rediscovering trust in human connection.”
The song’s accompanying music video, shot on film in black-and-white, accentuates those themes of liberation and empowerment. It features the artist with her two Dalmatians playing – and lazing – together in the great outdoors. The visual evokes a sense of serenity and tranquility – a long-awaited catharsis, like that great exhale after holding your breath for a little too long. It’s the perfect complement to OSKA’s music and lyrics, enhancing an already intimate and moving piece.
OSKA is no stranger to such raw narratives and unflinchingly vulnerable songwriting. Her debut album My World, My Love, Paris (released in 2022) found the then-26-year-old artist baring her soul in song, exploring her past, present, and possible futures with her heart on her sleeve. Atwood Magazine praised her first album as a radiant, dreamy, and deeply human record brimming with sadness and hope, poignant inner reckonings and reflections on life, love, purpose, and being: “It’s enchanting music of raw, visceral connection; a set of songs that feels at once timeless, and yet so fitting for the 2020s,” we wrote in an artist feature.
That record traced the contours of love, loss, and longing with poetic grace, establishing OSKA as a fearless storyteller unafraid to sit with life’s messier emotions. “I think I just wanted to be more open and honest, and allow myself to be who I am,” she reflected at the time — a sentiment she deepens even further with Refined Believer, pairing her signature intimacy with hard-earned resilience and hard-won hope.
Now everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Made her the big story of a small town
Haven’t you heard?
Haven’t you heard?
Now she’s singing hallelujah
Like she’s never heard your name before
“Gloria” joins previously released singles “With Love, Your Clementine,” “April May July,” “Like a Song,” “It Happens Either Way,” and “Forever Blue” – each adding depth, nuance, and color to an incredibly intimate album that explores losing faith in friendships and relationships, only to slowly reconnect with trust and hope. As OSKA explains, Refined Believer is about inching back to a place of trust, self-belief, and faith in life’s greater forces.
“I feel like I can believe in something bigger than myself again,” she shares. “It just means that I’m finding the ability to hope again.” It’s the soundtrack to someone rediscovering the light in her world, opening herself to possibility, and embracing the things that give life meaning and purpose.
Perhaps Gloria’s story of resilience and self-liberation can be understood as a mirror to OSKA’s own personal journey of late – one marked by change, uncertainty, and ultimately, growth.
In the years since her debut, OSKA has uprooted her life in Vienna, sought solace in the Austrian countryside, and traveled to London to collaborate with producer David Kosten. That period of upheaval pushed her to reflect on who she is, what she wants, and what kind of music she’s meant to make. Refined Believer is the product of that deep introspection: An album shaped by solitude, independence, and the quiet but powerful act of rediscovering one’s voice.
“Gloria” joins the brutally raw “April May July,” the sweetly tender “With Love, Your Clementine,” and the lush, warm, and wondrous “Forever Blue,” bringing even more emotional resonance and hard-won catharsis to the world of Refined Believer.
Stream “Gloria” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and get lost in OSKA’s latest achingly beautiful story.
Refined Believer is out June 20!
Now she’s singing hallelujah, hallelujah
Now she’s singing hallelujah, hallelujah
Years flew by, the nightmares stopped
Years flew by, the nightmares stopped
Years flew by, the nightmares stopped
You never came back, thank God
Now everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Everybody’s on her case
Made her the big story of a small town
Haven’t you heard?
Haven’t you heard?
Haven’t you heard how it all went down?
Everybody’s singing her name now
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:: stream/purchase Gloria here ::
:: pre-save Refined Believer here ::
:: connect with OSKA here ::
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Stream: “Gloria” – OSKA
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