Lana Is - In Your Head (2019)

Our mind creates our own reality – this is the epiphany reached in the sublimely cathartic title song of singer-songwriter Lana Is’s debut album “In Your Head”. Slowly, song after song, Lana sings her way into our heads.

Lana takes off on a musical journey “through the cities of this world,” seeking answers to her innermost questions. In her song “Towards myself” she finally turns to find the long sought answers within herself.

“In Your Head” is about Lana’s life and the many years she spent moving from one country to another, dipping in and out of different cultures, languages and mentalities – leaving her to question and contemplate her own identity. Her songs portray her inner spiritual curiosity, metaphysical self-dialogues and her search of authenticity as she seeks and finds a safe harbor in her own voice and music.

The opening track “Towards myself” begins with a down to earth rock-groove, interrupted by Brandon Seabrook’s post-punk guitar playing. Notable is the added treasure of the Slavic Mandolin Choir in the bridge.

Lana sings large intervals in the song “Something’s Coming”, and an ecstatic rise added by the dissonance of a choir of voices triggers a feeling of apotheoses. In the outro of the song, Eivind Opsvik produced layers of subtle electronics onto the drum parts, played by the virtuoso drummer Dan Weiss.

The introduction of “I Don’t Need To Be Saved” harkens a Sixties West Coast Beach Sound – the song talks about taking responsibility for one’s own thoughts and actions.

The mood of “I Want To” has the flavor of a Bjork song while elegantly and subtly conveying Lana’s roots in Croatia, former Yugoslavia.

Lana’s Croatian roots also show in “Biti” meaning “To Be” in her mother tongue, through which she lays out her belief in a sacred essence of a soul, which is omnipresent and connects all life on earth and beyond.

The spherical ballad “So Long” generates goose bumps, as do a number of other songs on the Album.

The title track “In Your Head” and the last track on the album “Little” are rock songs with poetic and fresh lyrics. Both are also released as radio edits. These tracks are the highlight of the album, pairing a high standard of songwriting with excellent production. (The lyrics are included as a PDF document on the CD.)

The music on this Album welcomes the bright side of life as well the hardships. Generated from optimism and the joy of life, it invokes feelings of fearlessness and freedom and echoes over and over in our mind.