Out Now: Animal EP

With the new songs on this EP, DILANA is taking on the world!

Several of these songs are issue-oriented, trying to shine a light on stories we don’t necessarily want to hear, but need to. Instead of another album of bleeding her soul, we get this more eclectic collection trying to show the scars on society. That’s why it makes sense for these songs to throw everything from slide guitar to world beats, from crooning vocals to rapping, into the mix. Speaking to everyone means speaking every language (metaphorically). DILANA tries to do that here. It’s nice to have a reminder that music can make a difference on more than a personal level.

At it’s best, art speaks the truth in ways that we can’t achieve by talking alone. Whether it’s an image you can’t stop seeing when you close your eyes, or a melody that means you can’t get the words out of your head, art allows us to absorb a message we might not be willing to sit down and listen to otherwise.  

DILANA & Jeff Zwart spent many months in the studio writing and producing these songs, Jeff is also featured on all guitars. Mastered in Hollywood by Joe Bozzi (Bernie Grundman Studios).

DILANA is an artist. When we last heard from her, on “Beautiful Monster”, she was writing painfully honest songs about her life that spoke to the core of the human experience. For many fans, it was deeply important music.

“Kids Must Play” addresses the state of the world, gun control and the impact it is having on the next generations. The heavy guitar groove and the siren effects echo the adrenaline flowing as calls for help cry out the next inevitable time a shooting happens. “Who’s going to save the kids?” 

“Animal” takes on the exploitation of nature. An epic track, fit for a motion picture theme song with  dramatic strings and Dilana’s booming voice taking the world’s leaders to task for not recognizing and protecting the beauty of our animal brethren. It is a plea to our humanity to do better, to put aside how easy cruelty can be in favor of a more compassionate reality. 

“Da Big Man” uses its stomping marching beat to throw us into a world of false patriotism where we listen to and accept anything that is said by the people who are supposedly on ‘our side’. Loyalty has become blind, truth has become multiple choice, and power has become everything.  

“Oh Jericho”, a song about life, longing, and how no love can measure up to motherhood. It’s that fierce love that forces Dilana to confront the world’s problems, because she can’t bear to leave them to fester until it’s her child’s responsibility to fix them. Her focus is singular, and wanting a better future includes changing her music to do what she can to make it happen. 

And as a treat, we also get a cover of Audioslave’s, “Like A Stone”. Fitting the theme of this EP,  DILANA uses this song  as a reminder that mental health struggles are real, they are severe, and far too many of us are impacted by the ripple-effects of suicide. Beautiful and simple production featuring Jonas Pap on strings.

Yes, this is a very different DILANA than we might be used to, but as time has progressed, she has grown. She is now not just speaking about herself and to each one of us individually, but about everyone and to all of us. As much as sharing your soul is brave, so too is speaking up for what you believe is right.

---