As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers—and this year, they’re arriving with a surge of new music, tours, and festivals. From standout releases and international live dates to a dense calendar of events across Austria and beyond, the coming weeks offer no shortage of activity. Dive into the latest edition of Austrian Music Highlights for a curated look at what’s happening from, for, in, and out of Austria this April and into May.
Release Radar
Soia – “Told You Already” (Soia // Release Date: April 9, 2026)
With “Told You Already,” Soia delivers the perfect soundtrack for an R&B twilight and the first glimpse of her new album. The track blends soulful jazz horns with experimental pan flute sounds to create an atmosphere that feels both vulnerable and determined. At its core lies a powerful message: take your intuition seriously and set boundaries. A smooth yet honest statement for anyone who wants to trust their own voice more again. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
Garish feat. Violetta Parisini – “Das Fest” (Ink Music // Release Date: April 10, 2026)
With “Das Fest,” Garish and Violetta Parisini present a song that confronts the tense present with quiet confidence. Warm tones, understated arrangements, and finely harmonized voices create a calm, light-filled atmosphere. The track comes across as surprisingly open and hopeful—a nuance one wouldn’t necessarily expect from either act in this form. Lyrically, the focus is on small, unassuming moments of everyday life that can provide a sense of stability. “Das Fest” thus unfolds its effect in an unassuming yet lasting way—as a quiet counterpoint to uncertainty and gloomy thoughts. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
Elena Shirin – “BACKBONE” (House of Larriki // Release Date: April 10, 2026)
With its stark, gritty aesthetic, the music video for “BACKBONE” captures the raw energy of the nightlife scene while reflecting Elena Shirin’s uncompromising honesty. The initially minimalist production evolves into a dense, atmospheric sound that makes the growing inner tension palpable. The song traces the path of a journey that leaves its mark both physically and psychologically. “BACKBONE” is both a harbinger of the new album and the foundation of a profound search for identity. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
BAITS – “Choose or Lose” (BAITS // Release Date: March 27, 2026)
“I gotta choose”—with this striking declaration, BAITS catapult us straight back to the era of ’90s coming-of-age soundtracks à la “10 Things I Hate About You.” Carried by Sonja Maier’s unmistakably raspy and powerful voice, the song unleashes a raw energy that perfectly balances nostalgic vibes with a modern punk spirit. The production captures exactly that feeling of freedom and rebellion you get when the guitars get louder. Following their success with “All Filler No Killer,” BAITS prove once again that they can combine anger and melody into a rousing cry of liberation. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
With “Blurp 2” (Jazzwerkstatt Records; release date: April 3, 2026), the group Aufmessers Schneide presents its third album, seamlessly building on the musical signature the ensemble has developed over the past few years: an open, stylistically diverse approach to jazz that moves between complexity, a joy of playing, and narrative flow. Under the direction of double bassist and composer Gregor Aufmesser, a musical landscape unfolds that draws on a wide variety of sonic ideas, yet does not merely juxtapose them as a collage, but weaves them together into an organic whole. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
Mary Broadcast – “AURA” (Monkey // Release Date: March 6, 2026)
Mary Broadcast’s new single “AURA” is about love for a woman. “Let it be me, Aura!” sings the bandleader and singer, who lends her name to the group. The accompanying music video illustrates this hopeless infatuation and how impossible it is to take your eyes off the object of your adoration. The distorted guitar in the background underscores how easily Aura turns your head. In this song, you can definitely see—and hear—the sparks flying! (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
RAHEL – “weidentier” (Ink Music // Release Date: March 13, 2026)
RAHEL returns with “weidentier” and invites us to sink into the soft grass. Gentle guitar tones and percussion underscore the song’s longing and loneliness. “The whole world leaves me in peace, but sadly, so do you.” The musician sings of inner contradictions and the longing for that one person, along with the accompanying uprooted dreams. Despite these themes, this song makes you want to grab your picnic blanket and settle in comfortably on a meadow in the bright sunshine. (Read the original in German from mica – music austria.)
The radio.string.quartet is known, among other things, for its wide musical range. Since 2004, the ensemble has been moving with equal parts playfulness and skill between classical, jazz, world music, and contemporary music. Their new album “aERO – four seasons VOL.1” is part of a tetralogy, the fourth installment of which—following earth, fire, and water—is, unsurprisingly, dedicated to air. Read the full article and interview here (in German).
“It has great power and causes great confusion” – Sophie Abraham from radio.string.quartet
AVA FINA wrote her very first song at the age of 11: although she no longer performs that song, the singer-songwriter—originally from Salzburg—will release her debut EP, “Simultaneously Stimulating,” on April 10, 2026. The 6-song EP was produced by SOPHIE LINDINGER and JOHANNES MADL and was released on her own label. Find out more about the new album and the artist’s positions and process here (in German).
„INSPIRATION IST ÜBERALL. ICH MUSS NUR RAUM DAFÜR LASSEN, DASS SIE ZU MIR KOMMEN KANN“ – AVA FINA
Special Specials
The donaufestival returns in 2026 to Krems an der Donau across two weekends—April 24–26 and May 1–3—once again transforming the town into a vibrant meeting point for experimental music, performance, and audiovisual art. This year’s program features a wide-ranging mix of international (i.e. Peaches) and Austrian (i.e. Exit Void, Agar Agar, Liquid Loft mit Radian) artists, with highlights spanning avant-garde pop, club culture, and interdisciplinary work, including live shows, DJ sets, and immersive installations. Among the anticipated highlights are genre-defying performances from cutting-edge electronic producers, boundary-pushing live acts, and site-specific works that engage directly with the festival’s urban setting. Talks and film screenings further expand the program, addressing current political and cultural questions. With venues such as the Donauhalle and Stadtsaal alongside temporary spaces across the city, donaufestival maintains its signature flow between concert, club, and discourse—offering an intense, curated experience that unfolds from early evening into late night.
This year’s theme, defined by Artistic Director, Thomas Edlinger, is: Mad Hope. Hope—burdened with religious and political meaning—often fails or is misused, and in an era marked by war, authoritarianism, ecological crisis, and digital threats, believing in a better future can seem almost absurd. Yet this very “madness” may open new perspectives. At the Donaufestival 2026, the leitmotif Mad Hope unfolds across performances, installations, and concerts: from Anton Kats’ reflection on a lost cargo ship as a metaphor for hope, to the group exhibition Hope4Hope and Yann Marussich’ striking installation. Works like HOLD&RESIST_a springrite by Liquid Loft and Radian explore endurance and resistance, while artists such as Peaches, Makaya McCraven, The New Eves, caroline, and Chino Amobi channel ideas of collective experience, chaos, and transformation. Mad Hope emerges as a fragile but persistent belief in change—what Terry Eagleton calls “hope without optimism.” Check out the full program here and secure your tickets asap!
Austrian Composers Day 2026: A key annual event for composers and songwriters, the Austrian Composers Day—organized by the Austrian Composers Association—returns on May 9 from 10:00 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Under the theme “My Music – My Rights …and Where’s My Money?”, this information and networking day focuses on current legal, economic, and cultural policy conditions shaping music creation. The program features talks and panels with industry experts, including songwriter and producer Emanuel Treu, copyright specialist Patrick Ager, film and game composer Markus Zierhofer, plagiarism expert Harald Huber, and Eva-Maria Bauer, alongside panel discussions with additional guests from across the music sector. All sessions include opportunities for audience questions and participation, with the full program available online. All events are free. Register by May 5th!
TODAS. Latin American Women Musicians in Vienna – Concerts, lectures, dialogues.
TODAS is a two-day academic-artistic festival exploring the unique position of women musicians from Latin America in Europe. Through a dialogue between music and scholarship, the festival addresses challenges related to categorization, presentation, and marketing. It examines how discourses of belonging and identity are intertwined with national classifications, musical expectations, and processes of cultural “othering.”
The festival is organized as part of the research project Reverse Ethnomusicology and is based on Gabriela Dossow Ponce’s research Women and fem* Latin American musicians in Vienna: in plural.
An event by mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in cooperation with the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (IVE) and Opera Trip Kulturverein. Find out more about the event here.
To everything tour, tour, tour
Austrian artist SALÒ will be on tour from late April into early May, with confirmed stops across Austria and Germany, including dates in cities such as Vienna, Graz, Linz, and Berlin. Kicking off at the end of April, the run continues through the first days of May and brings his latest material to a mix of club venues and established live stages. Known for his pointed, emotionally driven approach to pop, SALO brings his songs to the stage with a raw immediacy that moves between fragility and defiance. The full list of dates and venues is available here. With SALÒ, pop rubs shoulders with punk, anger with vulnerability and platitudes encounter larger than life feelings. The result? Songs about lust, sorrow and love in times of late turbo-capitalism.
Austrian songwriter Voodoo Jürgens is set to tour throughout the spring, bringing his unmistakable blend of Viennese dialect songwriting, dark humor, and understated storytelling to stages across Austria and beyond. The tour includes a series of club and festival appearances through April and May, with stops in cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, and several German venues. Known for his laconic delivery and sharply observed lyrics, Voodoo Jürgens continues to cultivate a live presence that feels both intimate and unvarnished, drawing audiences into his bittersweet narratives of everyday life. Get all the info you need here.
Arianna Alfreds