Matija Cvek

Matija Cvek is a Croatian singer and songwriter, born on 9 March 1993 in Zagreb, where he grew up. His grandmother Maja is a lyricist, and it was her poems that first led him to music: he set one of them, "Potraži me u jeseni", to his guitar. He formed his first band at sixteen and at eighteen began singing lessons with Denis Vasilj; around the same time he met the songwriter Neno Ninčević. He also studied physiotherapy, and gave up football after an injury.

He first sang in cafés and on terraces, and in 2017 he was a backing vocalist for Jacques Houdek at the Eurovision Song Contest with "My Friend". He became known through HRT's show A strana, where he sang with artists such as Nina Badrić. In June 2018 he released his debut single, "Visine", which he had played at his concerts until audiences knew the words.

His debut album, Izbirljivo i slučajno, came out on 16 April 2021 and went straight to number one on the Croatian albums chart. Early in 2022 "Trebaš li me", a duet with Eni Jurišić, became his first number one on the HR Top 40. At the 29th Porin awards he won best pop album and best male vocal performance, and "Trebaš li me" was named song of the year at the 2023 Cesarica awards. In 2022 he also reworked "Zar je ljubav spala na to" with Jelena Rozga and released the live album Izbirljivo i namjerno with Big Band Bjelovar.

With his band the Funkensteins he released "Kraj Save", a tribute to Zagreb, in March 2023, sang "Zalazak" at Melodije Jadrana that June, and in September 2023 released the album Vile se ovdje igraju, which also reached number one. His duet with the Serbian singer Marija Šerifović, "Pola sunca" (2023), brought him a following in Serbia, and he gave his first solo concert in Belgrade that November. Newer songs include "Pristajem" with Lelek, "Sjećam se", "Nisam taj" and "Dvoje mladih".