Matija Cvek

Matija Cvek (born 9 March 1993) is a Croatian singer and songwriter. He rose to fame by participating in HRT's show A strana and as a backing vocalist during Jacques Houdek's Eurovision Song Contest 2017 performance of "My Friend". He first gained public attention in 2018 when he released his song "Visine". Cvek's first studio album, Izbirljivo i namjerno, debuted atop the Croatian Albums Chart. His second studio album Vile se ovdje igraju (2023) also peaked at number one on the chart.

In addition to his solo material, Cvek has collaborated with Croatian singer Jelena Rozga on the rework of "Zar je ljubav spala na to" (2022) and with Serbian singer Marija Šerifović on the song "Pola sunca" (2023).

Life and career 1991-2017: Early life Matija Cvek is born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia. He has one sister. He is in a close relationship with his grandfather and grandmother, Maja, a renowned Croatian lyricist. It was the latter who inspired him to venture into the music industry. While reading her works in a collection, he recorded a song based on one of her poems, titled, "Potraži me u jeseni" . After his appearance at the Eurovisiong Song Contest he started participating regularly at various festivals and gigs. He rose to fame by participating in HRT's show A strana. In the show, he managed to collaborate with several popular Croatian artists, including Nina Badrić. He also served as a backing vocal at the Volim Hrvatsku show. He worked on the music for the song together with Mislav Žabarović and initially played it only during his live gigs; as he noticed that people from the audience knew the lyrics more and more with each performance, he decided to record the song. He later also added it to the set list of his live performances, which is how he caught Jelena Rozga's attention. His version of the song was described as "something completely different" and was well-received by listeners.

Cvek released his debut studio album Izbirljivo i slučajno on 16 April 2021 and debuted atop the Croatian Top of the Shops albums chart. In retrospect, Cvek revealed that he saw his first album as more single-based and thus, less of a whole conceptual artistic work. On 9 December 2021, he appeared on Antena Zagreb where he performed a mashup of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey and "Sretan Božić" by Dino Dvornik. His first live album Izbirljivo i namjerno, which featured performances of eight of the album's songs, featured Big Band Bjelovar led by conductor Bruno Bišċan and was released on 2 December 2022.

2022-2023: "Trebaš li me", non-album singles and Vile se ovdje igraju In early 2022, a collaboration with Croatian singer Eni Jurišić titled "Trebaš li me" was released. The track reached number one on the HR Top 40 becoming Cvek's first chart topper. At the 29th Annual Porin Awards, Cvek took home two awards: the award for Best Pop Album and the award for Best Male Vocal Performance. At the 2023 edition of the Cesarica Awards, Cvek won the Song of The Year award with "Trebaš li me". The song received two additional Songs of The Year awards at the 2023 editions of Zlatni Studio and Top.HR Music Awards, respectively.

On 3 March 2023, Cvek was a guest on the talk show 5.com s Danielom on HRT together with Mario Mihaljević. In addition to an interview about his two studio albums and career, he performed the songs "Trebaš li me", "Probudi se" and "Visine". On 14 March 2023, Cvek released the song "Kraj Save" together with the Funkensteins. The song had been on his and the Funkensteins repertoire for over a year and a music video for it was filmed at the Dom Sportova complex in Zagreb, Croatia. On 25 June 2023, Cvek participated at the Melodije Jadrana 2023 with the song "Zalazak" which features the Funkensteins.

On 15 September 2023, he released his second studio album with his band the Funkensteins, titled Vile se ovdje igraju . The title was borrowed from a sign Cvek saw during his vacation at the Japanese islands at Bihać which he used to write a song and a chorus. The album was recorded in a "vintage fashion", as described by the singer himself; it included ten days of recording with 15-hour recording sessions per day. During an interview he spoke more in-depth about the album, revealing that it was the creative outcome of his introspection, "digging deeper" into his own thoughts and feelings. He further said that his discussions on love are "more intimate, more personal, maybe even sensual and sexual". The album also makes mention of his lifepath and it finds him singing from a state of limbo, sharing his thoughts on life and death.

2023-present: Career in Serbia On 6 October 2023, he collaborated with Serbian singer Marija Šerifović on the song "Pola sunca" taken from the latter's sixth studio album Dolazi ljubav. They further promoted it through a music video directed by Hamper Digital and released on 6 October 2023 and making a televised appearances on the Serbian show Kec na jedanaest. As of April 2024, the music video has over 9.4 million views on the platform, 5 months since its release. The single was very commercially successful, peaking at number three on Billboard Croatia Songs for the week ending 21 October 2023.

Cvek's debut live performance in Belgrade, Serbia took place during Jelena Rozga's concert, where he served as a guest performer for the song "Zar je ljubav spala na to" on 7 April 2023 as part of the latter's Minut Srca Mog Tour (2022-23). As part of a promotion for the concert, he made two guest appearances on the shows Medu nama and Kec na jedanaest on 6 and 7 April 2023, respectively, where he gave interviews. On the latter show, he performed three of his songs, including "Trebaš li me", "Ptice" and a cover of Željko Joksimović's "Leđa o leđa". He later gave a smaller gig, performing together with his band at a café in Belgrade on 7 June 2023.

On 10 February 2025 Matija Cvek performed a cover of "End of Beginning" together with Croatian singer Jakov Jozinović as part of a series of covers he recorded in the kitchen. Their version of the song went viral. On 21 November 2025, Jakov released his first single, titled "Polje ruža" whose music and lyrics were written by Matija Cvek.

Personal life Cvek was in a relationship with Croatian singer-songwriter Nika Turković. During an interview, he revealed that prior to finding his call in music, he briefly ventured in building a career in football. During his walks, he often wanders through the mountain of Medvednica.

Artistry Reflecting on his songwriting process, Cvek revealed that he writes songs best while walking and then recording everything he has come up with on his phone; most often he comes up with the lyrics first and then music, although his favorite writing moment is when both come together. "Zaplesala je s ljetom"

Best Pop Album Izbirljivo i namjerno

Best Male Vocal Performance Matija Cvek

Zlatni Studio Top.HR Music Awards

Porin Best Pop Album Vile se ovdje igraju