Jouska’s Intimate New Chapter Asks How Did I Wind Up Here?

Jouska. Photo credit: Hans Olav Settem.

Oslo-based artist Marit Othilie Thorvik, who records as Jouska, is blurring the line between a private confession and a heartfelt expression of grief. On her upcoming album How Did I Wind Up Here? (out October 17) she moves away from the polished electronic sound from her previous albums and leans into a new direction shaped by shoegaze and dream pop influences. REVERIE spoke with Jouska about vulnerability, navigating her public perception as an artist, and the healing tension that drives her work.

REVERIE: You’ve said How Did I Wind Up Here? was written during a time of grief and emotional distance. What role did music play for you during that time?

Jouska: There was a lot going on at the time. Too much, really. Making the album gave me somewhere to put those feelings and try to make sense of them. It became a way to work through what was happening around me and turn it into something tangible. So yes, it was definitely therapeutic.

REVERIE: How did working through emotions like shame, guilt, and grief shape the album?

Jouska: That’s the heart of it. There was no line between what was happening in my life and what ended up in the music. I made these songs to process what I was feeling and to better understand myself. Listening back now feels strange, like looking at an old wound that’s been stitched up yet still aches sometimes.

How Did I Wind Up Here?

REVERIE: Can you walk us through the creation of your first single Pierced.?

Jouska: Pierced. came from the conflicted feelings I have around performing, wanting to connect and feel the rush, but not being able to immerse myself fully, watching myself from the outside. I made a rough demo a couple of years ago and left it for a while. Last year, Hans [Olav Settem, who also contributes guitar, bass, and synths] and I took it apart piece by piece and rebuilt it slowly. Having that distance helped me hear it differently and understand what it needed to really capture the feeling.

REVERIE: I noticed a reference to your inner child on Pierced. How do you protect yourself and your inner child while being so vulnerable in your lyrics?

Jouska: I disguise myself in my lyrics. I tell the truth, but not all of it. That’s how I protect myself. In music, I can take my time deciding what to say and how to say it. In real life, it’s harder to navigate and figure out how much I want to give away. Being blunt yet controlled in my lyrics lets me reveal something without giving everything away. It allows me to keep parts of myself hidden.

REVERIE: You’ve described a tension between wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear. How do you reconcile that while performing something so personal?

Jouska: I haven’t found the balance yet. I want people to hear my music, but the act of being perceived can feel overwhelming. Performing is so strange. It’s intimate, yet you’re so exposed. I try to focus on the music itself rather than how I’m being perceived, but it’s something I have to keep working on. I don’t think I’ll ever be fully comfortable with being visible, and I’ve had to make some kind of peace with that.

REVERIE: Are there any themes that are at the forefront of your creative work right now?

Jouska: I’m in a band phase at the moment - shoegaze, folk rock, dream pop. I’m drawn to the music I listened to in my teen years. Revisiting that sound now feels like reconnecting with a younger version of myself.

REVERIE: You’re moving away from a more electronic-driven sound in this album. What inspired that shift?

Jouska: I wanted it to feel more alive. More organic, more raw, more connected to the hands that made it. It felt right for the songs and the stories behind them.

REVERIE: You’ve mentioned Slowdive and Beach House as sonic influences. Are there any non-musical influences that are equally important to your sound?

Jouska: Poetry is a big influence, especially Sylvia Plath, her work moves me deeply. I get the same feeling from good scripts, where silence matter as much as the lines. I often gravitate toward films and series adapted from books and I love when everything just comes together so perfectly that you feel completely immersed, like you’re inside it, feeling what the characters feel. 

REVERIE: Who creates your album artwork? What inspires the artistic direction?

Jouska: Ruth Emilie Rustad Martinsen has done all my artwork since the beginning. We’ve grown alongside each other, and for this record, I think she drew a lot from her own instincts as an artist. It feels like she put more of her own style and signature into it, and I think it reflects her just as much as it reflects the music.

Jouska’s latest single "Season of Dread," from her upcoming album is out today. Her album How Did I Wind Up Here?, is out on October 17.