Kevin Bronson on April 26th, 2019

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Winona Oak is the nom de tune of 24-year-old Johanna Ekmark, an L.A.-based native of Sweden’s northern reaches and the latest charge from commercial pop superstore Neon Gold Records. A violin and piano player in her youth, she boosted her career by attending a Neon Gold writing retreat in 2017, which led to collaborations with Australian producer What So Not.

This week, she released her first solo single, “He Don’t Love Me,” which covers familiar emotions associated with being jilted. “We’re all capable of falling for people who don’t value us, grasping for a leaving hand,” she says. “But we must understand that we’re just as capable of realizing that our worth does not lay in those heavy hands.”

As opposed to last year’s formulaic collaboration with the Chainsmokers on their single “Hope,” Oak’s debut benefits from restrained production while still being very de rigueur. Her vocals morph from woozy to ethereal as she slurs the titular chorus ad infinitum. Because if you say it enough times, you know it’s true and then you move on.

||| Stream: “He Don’t Love Me”

||| Also: Watch the video for the song, directed by Andreas Öhman.