“Turn that up,” I say as Lana Lubany played me her song The Snake in her room last year just before its release. The melodic strumming and poetic lyrics slowed my heart down and then my eyes widened as she sang in Arabic. The ebb and flow of the chorus was addictive, I didn’t want those two minutes and fifty-six seconds to end. “This is gonna be huge" I told her with a grin. This was something different than just pop.

I spent the rest of the day with Lana as we talked manifestation and capturing her essence. We knew it had to be aesthetically green and sonically villainous in the best way. 

The subsequent release of Sold and Clones are in the same vein. Vocal chops, middle eastern scales, and RnB rhythms made her an infectious superstar with millions of streams. I asked her how she wants people to feel when they listen to her music. “I want my music to make people feel something- whether it’s happy or sad, I just want people to take what I’m saying and apply it to their own experiences. I want people to immerse themselves in the musical world.” 

Where’s My Iris and Point of No Return lend a softer point of view, invoking whispery tones against a fast undertone. Lana’s voice captivates, filled with both dark and light, building up tension and mystery perfectly. Expectations is a replay-worthy rhythmic track panning left and right, that personifies itself perfectly with the lyrics “the overthinking rhythm of my thoughts don’t let me get a wink of rest”, a glimpse into Lana’s fast paced and creative psyche.

Renaissance continues this story, introducing us with the lyric “my mind won’t stop running like I'm training for this marathon but there’s no finish line”. Lana’s delivery is delicate and vulnerable, in contrast with the final track of the EP, On My Way which provides suspense, and a power that takes up space. The spoken word verse ends with Lana singing the titles of each song, piecing together each part of her entity in full circle. The track ends in an ominous cadence, asserting her arrival as an enigmatic force. The Holy Land EP sets Lana apart on the scene, her incantations bringing two worlds together.

The Palestinian singer-songwriter stays loyal to native roots, and you can hear the influence in her genre-bending art. I asked her the significance of this. “It’s important for me to have my culture and language incorporated in my art, because my music is a reflection of me, and those things make up who I am. I like trying new things and breaking borders using my art, and I feel it’s time the world hears a new angle.”