Known for drumming with Efterklang, Bugge Wesseltoft, and Nils Frahm, Øyunn strips away all that technical prowess here for something rawer. The verses hit with weary, resigned rap that doesn’t pull punches. There’s real anger here, the kind that comes from caring too much about someone who can’t see what they’re walking away from.

Then the chorus arrives and everything shifts. Her vocals turn fragile, almost whispered, looping a message of encouragement over a hypnotic groove. It’s a lifeline disguised as a lullaby. The production, handled by Øyunn and longtime collaborator Brian Batz, gives the track space to breathe. Heavy drums anchor it while a free-floating bassline keeps everything moving beneath the surface.

What makes this work is its refusal to be just one thing. Frustrated and gentle, angry and hopeful, blunt and tender. Øyunn won “New Jazz Name of the Year” at the 2024 Danish Music Awards for her live album Aspects, but this single proves she’s not interested in categories. She’s working in the spaces between genres, making music that feels like a conversation rather than a performance.

Following her recent single “New Life,” which caught attention from Earmilk and Radio X’s John Kennedy, “Hope That You’ll Sing Again” offers a glimpse of her debut studio album I Know U Can Do It, out October 31st via Midnight Confessions. Øyunn isn’t just making music about difficult emotions. She’s figuring out how to hold space for them.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is keep showing up, even when it hurts. “Hope That You’ll Sing Again” understands that completely.

“Hope That You’ll Sing Again” is out now, follow Øyunn via @oyunn

Photography Helge Brekke