October is turning up the volume on Austria’s music scene. As festival season trades sun-soaked fields for sweaty clubs and packed concert halls, a fresh wave of releases, boundary-pushing sounds and unmissable live shows is taking over. With established names exploring new directions and emerging talents bringing fresh perspectives, there’s plenty to look forward to. Dive into the latest Austrian Music Highlights for a curated selection of October’s standout releases, international tours and festival highlights.
I shall be released
Love and Resilience on Oskar Haag’s New Album Lost Cause: Austrian singer-songwriter Oskar Haag transforms painful experiences into beautiful songs on his second album, Lost Cause, a radiant record about resilience, growing up and love. Born in Klagenfurt, Haag made his live debut at just 15 at Vienna’s Popfest in 2021, quickly establishing himself as one of Austria’s most promising young talents. His 2023 debut Teenage Lullabies earned him the FM4 Award at the Amadeus Austrian Music Awards, making him its youngest-ever recipient at 17. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing at Vienna’s Burgtheater and in several films. Now 21, Haag reflects on his adolescence with Lost Cause, whose title was inspired by a teacher who repeatedly told him he would never amount to anything. Rather than responding with bitterness, he transforms these experiences into songs full of empathy and defiance: the title track builds from accordion to a sweeping indie chorus reminiscent of Beirut, while the distorted guitars of Drop Out channel his rebellious side. The album also explores family relationships and parental expectations, with Haag’s father, Oliver Welter of Naked Lunch, playing an important role in encouraging his songwriting. Musically and emotionally more mature, Lost Cause also features his first explicitly political song, I Wish Change Was Real, a protest against war and those in power. Yet at its heart, the album remains rooted in Haag’s greatest inspirations: the Beatles and love. One of its centrepieces, Der Kuss, was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s famous painting The Kiss, which moved Haag so deeply during a visit to Vienna’s Belvedere Museum that he immediately recorded a melody on his phone. The result is a shimmering pop song that captures the emotional honesty and melodic sensitivity at the heart of his music. (Translated and abridged from FM4 German original.)
Austrian indie band Endless Wellness return with their second album, Domino Days, out on 16 October 2026 via Buback Tonträger. Despite their name, the band offers anything but soothing escapism. Instead, they confront the anxieties, contradictions and pressures of contemporary society through sharp, poetic lyrics and catchy, deliberately rough-edged indie rock. Following their acclaimed 2024 debut Was für ein Glück, the new album continues their distinctive approach of transforming personal feelings into broader social commentary, often with remarkable economy of language. Lines such as “Kontrolle ist Messer” (“Control is a knife”) capture the darker side of our obsession with control, while “Den Tag am Abend vorher proben” (“Rehearsing the day the night before”) reflects the pressures of constant self-monitoring and optimisation in a digital world. Elsewhere, familiar fairy-tale imagery is turned on its head to portray the disorientation of modern life. Rather than relying on polished production or vocal virtuosity, ENDLESS WELLNESS stand out for their ability to combine incisive observations, memorable melodies and biting sarcasm without resorting to moralising. Domino Days may not offer much relaxation, but it suggests that confronting the causes of our collective unease might be more worthwhile than simply trying to soothe its symptoms. (Translated and abridged from the original German version by Dominik Beyer.)
UCHE YARA — who grew up in Linz before relocating to Berlin — is heading out on tour this October in support of her debut album, BODYSCANNER, arriving September 25, 2026 via goldendays FM. The tour kicks off in mid-October 2026 in the UK before moving through Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, with confirmed stops including Future Yard in Birkenhead on October 21 and Botanique in Brussels on October 26.
Known for fusing alternative pop, R&B and club sounds into a raw, genre-blending universe, YARA has built a reputation as one of Europe’s most exceptional newcomers — having played major European festivals and opened for acts like Bilderbuch, Parcels, Marc Rebillet, and even the Rolling Stones before releasing her first official song. She picked up a Music Moves Europe Award in 2025, and her live shows are pitched as an intense mix of performance, club energy, and live music built around her voice, guitar, and stage presence. Find out where you can catch a show across the continent, here.
The band Die Strottern released their 13th album this year: on “wia i tua,” Klemens Lendl and David Müller present themselves just as we know them—poetic, laconic, sometimes melancholic, and humorous. In a conversation with Robert Fischer, the charismatic duo talks about their beginnings: for 30 years, the two have been breathing new life into traditional Viennese folk songs with violin, guitar, and their unmistakable vocals, all while preserving their bittersweet essence. This is made possible in particular by the brilliant lyrics of Peter Ahorner, with whom Die Strottern have been collaborating for many years. This past spring, Die Strottern performed an anniversary concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Incidentally, the band’s name is derived from the old Viennese term “Strotter,” which means something like “vagabond” or “crook.” To read more about the duo, check out the full interview on mica – music austria, here.
Vienna’s My Ugly Clementine — the indie/alt-rock “supergroup” with Sophie Lindinger, Mira Lu Kovacs, and Nastasja Ronck — have released their third full-length album, Apply Autonomy, described by FM4 Soundpark as darker than anything they’ve put out before. The band, known for centering feminism, empowerment, and equality in their music, is now taking the record on tour: the Apply Autonomy Tour 2026 runs from late September through October 2026, with additional dates stretching into 2027, including stops in Dornbirn, Klagenfurt, and beyond. For all the dates and details, go here.
When a band names its debut album “Not of This World” (Release Date: October 23, 2026) and borrows an astronaut helmet from the Austrian space agency to wear for the visual concept, you’d probably expect space pop or escapist conceptual art. With the four-piece indie band JANKA, however, the exact opposite is true: Their music is deeply earthly, full of emotion, and drawn directly from everyday life. On the album, JANKA wraps the feeling of being an outsider in pop melodies and shows that, in reality, you’re never completely alone. In a conversation with mica – music austria, singer Bianca Ehrenstraßer and drummer Finn Achatz talk about working on the record, potentially missing band members, and why intimacy, in the end, absolutely doesn’t need big stadium stages. Read the full interview here (German).
Festivious
The 39th edition of Wien Modern, Austria’s leading festival for contemporary music, takes place from 30 October to 30 November 2026 under the theme Im großen Ganzen (The Bigger Picture), exploring ecosystems, ecological interconnections and a world in which humans are not necessarily at the centre. Across almost five weeks, the festival presents 72 productions, 158 events, 8 exhibitions and installations, and 82 world premieres at 31 venues throughout Vienna. The opening concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus features Mit der Donau, an ambitious new composition and spatial installation by Pia Palme, created in dialogue with the Danube and performed by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Further highlights include works by pioneering sound artist Annea Lockwood, whose Sound Map of the Danube invites audiences to explore the river through recordings, and Australian composer Liza Lim, whose ecological approach to music is featured in several productions, including the opera Tree of Codes and the world premiere of Anima Mundi. Austrian composer Katharina Klement receives the 2026 Erste Bank Composition Prize, with her new ensemble work Schaum premiered by Klangforum Wien, while Italian composer Francesca Verunelli is featured in a series of concerts. A five-day collaboration with the Musikverein explores the musical and literary world of Nobel Prize-winning author Elfriede Jelinek, including her artistic relationship with Olga Neuwirth. Beyond traditional concerts, Wien Modern embraces immersive sound installations, experimental performances, interdisciplinary collaborations and Vienna’s independent music scene, alongside tributes marking the centenaries of Friedrich Cerha, Morton Feldman, Betsy Jolas and György Kurtág. The festival concludes on 30 November with the first complete performance of Friedrich Cerha’s Spiegel I–VII at the Musikverein, bringing a wide-ranging exploration of sound, nature, society and artistic experimentation to a close.
The 23rd edition of the KlezMORE Festival Vienna takes place from 7 to 15 November 2026, bringing together international artists including The Klezmatics, Lea Kalisch & Šenster Gob, Black Rooster Kapelye and Anna Lowenstein under the theme Sounding the Archive. Exploring how historical songs, texts and musical collections can inspire contemporary artistic expression, the festival highlights Jewish music as a living tradition rather than a museum piece. Against the backdrop of cultural traditions disrupted by the Holocaust, the programme connects remembrance with innovation, featuring a 40th-anniversary concert by the legendary Klezmatics, Lea Kalisch and Prague-based Šenster Gob’s playful fusion of Yiddish music and contemporary performance, and Black Rooster Kapelye’s reinterpretations of rarely performed Baltic-Jewish repertoire. Extending beyond Vienna, the festival returns to former synagogues in St. Pölten and Kobersdorf, where UK-based musician Anna Lowenstein presents a programme inspired by her childhood in a Hasidic neighbourhood in London. Further highlights include Kol Ishe – Jewish Women’s Voices, featuring New York cantor Sarah Myerson, alongside workshops, guided tours and opportunities to explore Jewish musical traditions. The festival concludes with Black Rooster Kapelye at Schutzhaus Zukunft, celebrating music as a space for cultural exchange, remembrance and artistic renewal. The festival is directed by Franziska Hatz and Lisa Reimitz, with Esther Wratschko and Isabel Frey as co-curators. Full programme and tickets: klezmore-vienna.at.
The TAT Festival for Contemporary Jazz returns to Innsbruck for its third edition from 27 to 31 October 2026, bringing together musicians from Tyrol and beyond to showcase the diversity of contemporary jazz. Organised by TonArtTirol, the festival combines concerts, networking opportunities, the TAT Jazz Awards and an open jam session. The programme kicks off on 27 October with the awards ceremony at BTV Tonhalle, followed by a jam session led by Honeydrop at Montagu on 28 October, where Panta Rhei and John Dizzy perform the following evening. On 30 October, the festival moves to Treibhaus, featuring Anna Reisigl & Amina Bouroyen, whose intimate interplay of double bass, vocals and synthesizers explores contrasting textures; Iranian oud player Avin Ahmadi and trumpeter Lorenz Widauer, who bridge jazz and Persian musical traditions; and the experimental trio MEL*E. The final evening on 31 October brings together Mad About Lemon, blending indie pop with rich vocal harmonies, Gummimamba, known for their distinctive approach to groove and rhythm, and Peter Rom Wanting Machine, whose inventive compositions explore unconventional instrumental combinations and improvisation. Outdoor performances by John Blow on both days extend the festival into public spaces. Beyond its concerts, TAT serves as a platform for exchange and collaboration within the contemporary jazz scene. While the Treibhaus concerts on 30 and 31 October are ticketed, all other events are free or accessible with a voluntary donation. Further information and tickets: TonArtTirol.
To everything, tour, tour, tour
Raw, restless and refreshingly unfiltered, Anda Morts has established himself as one of Austria’s most exciting new voices in German-language indie punk. Hailing from Linz, the singer-songwriter first made waves with his DIY bedroom recordings, pairing scrappy guitars and infectious hooks with brutally honest lyrics about growing up, self-doubt, frustration and the absurdities of everyday life. His acclaimed 2025 debut ANS cemented his reputation, while his explosive live shows have turned intimate songs into full-throttle punk anthems. Now performing as a power trio with Emil Stöllinger and Florian “Koi” Koll, Anda Morts is hitting the road again following the release of his second album, HEKTOMATIK, produced by Element of Crime’s Sven Regener. From 11 to 30 November 2026, the band will play 16 shows across Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, kicking off at Kantine in Augsburg before heading to Freiburg, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim, Darmstadt and Essen. The tour then crosses into the Netherlands for shows at Rotterdam’s Vessel 11 and Amsterdam’s legendary Paradiso, before returning to Germany for stops in Oldenburg, Rostock, Magdeburg and Jena. Two consecutive nights at Leipzig’s Conne Island on 27 and 28 November are followed by Dresden’s Beatpol on 29 November, with the tour wrapping up at Prague’s Rock Café on 30 November. Expect distorted guitars, driving rhythms, sharp observations and plenty of cathartic singalongs.
One of Austria’s brightest young indie-pop talents, Oskar Haag is hitting the road this October with songs from his second album, Lost Cause. The Klagenfurt-born singer-songwriter, who first captured attention with his breakthrough performance at Vienna’s Popfest at just 15, has quickly established himself as a distinctive voice in the Austrian music scene. Following his award-winning debut Teenage Lullabies, his new record explores growing up, resilience and love, combining intimate songwriting with sweeping melodies, indie-rock guitars and an unmistakable emotional honesty. The Austrian tour takes him to Orpheum in Graz (21 October), Kulturhaus Röda in Steyr (23 October), Fritz Club in Klagenfurt (24 October), ARGEkultur in Salzburg (28 October) and Spielboden in Dornbirn (31 October), offering audiences the chance to experience his heartfelt songs live.
Vienna’s Endless Wellness — who broke out with their Top 10 debut Was für ein Glück (2024) and picked up two Amadeus Award nominations in 2025 — have been rolling out singles ahead of a new record, including “So allein sollen wir nie wieder sein” and “Nie mehr sicher,” both released in 2026. Known for blending indie, fuzz-folk, and raw intimacy — scratchy western guitars and blown-out soundscapes paired with obscure, poetic German lyrics about exhaustion, vulnerability, and social overwhelm — the band spent summer 2026 on the festival circuit (Appletree Garden, Heimspiel Knyphausen, Kuahgartn Open Air, Bergfunk Open Air) before heading into a proper club tour this November and December, with stops in Munich, Esslingen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, and Nuremberg.
special specials
The winners of the Austrian Jazz Awards 2026 have been announced: a 203-expert academy narrowed 175 submissions to 34 nominees, and a five-member jury then picked the winners and runners-up. Salzburg trumpeter Lorenz Widauer took Newcomer 2026 for his stylistic range, from classical crossovers with his ensemble Chez Fría to dub grooves in Yvonne Moriel’s Sweetlife band (2nd: Elena Schäfer; 3rd: Avin Ahmadi). Peter Rom won Album 2026 with “Wanting Machine II,” a groove-driven work that blends Klangfarbenmelodie with African American jazz traditions and features many guest musicians (2nd: Georg Vogel; 3rd: Purple is the Color). The egalitarian trio MEL*E (Judith Ferstl, Judith Schwarz and Viola Hammer) won Live Act 2026 for their loud, danceable, protest-inspired energy, as heard on their album “Proud” (2nd: Jazzorchester Vorarlberg; 3rd: TSOMBANIS4). The High Impact Award went to Vienna-born composer Michael Mantler, who rose to prominence in the American free jazz scene and made the concept album “Escalator over the Hill.” The awards are an initiative of the Austrian Music Council, mica – music austria, IG world music, Ö1 and Porgy & Bess, and the ceremony takes place on November 28, 2026, at Dom im Berg in Graz at 7:30 pm, broadcast live on Ö1 and ORF ON.
Arianna Alfreds