Legacy can mean different things to different people. For some, legacy is simply about blood ties. For others, it’s about making positive decisions that will impact future generations. For Austrian-born Maria Burger, who performs as indie-pop singer/songwriter OSKA, legacy is about both of these things. It’s a theme that looms over her remarkable debut album, My world, My love, Paris.

The youngest of eight, with four older siblings and three half siblings above her, Maria grew up in a large family where music was in every room of the house. Her mother filled their home with the sounds of guitar, Irish music and ballets. As she grew up, Maria learned to play guitar herself, racing home after school to write songs, drawing influence from all over the spectrum.

Today, Maria has taken her rich musical upbringing to Vienna. As OSKA, Maria creates an inviting world of bright melodies, grooving rhythms, and poetic, storytelling lyrics. On her debut EP, Honeymoon Phase, audiences got a taste of Maria’s elegant songwriting, which touches on familiar themes like love, heartbreak, climate change, and family. 

The title of her debut album, My world, My love, Paris, is an anxious reminder that the planet’s future has never been more uncertain. Conceived near the start of the pandemic, “My World, My Love, Paris,” as the album’s title track, tells the story of a couple who board a boat as the world comes to an end. As they sail away, they ask each other, “Could we have made more of our lives?” It’s a spiritual cousin to a song by one of Maria’s major inspirations, Edith Piaf, who sang, “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (“No, I do not regret anything”).

Despite its various themes, My world, My love, Paris is ultimately a snapshot of a young woman attempting to make sense of getting older in an increasingly uncertain era. “My world, My love, Paris is about making sense out of that.”