Dilana Inside Out

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by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer

Ever noticed how praise in rock press is often delivered with a reference to an iconic, and preferably dead, genius? How every half-decent drummer is a John Bonham? And every 15 year-old who uses a lot of wah-wah is a Hendrix? And every competent enough female singer is a Janis Joplin? Have you ever feared that those legendary names will at some point lose any connection to the artists who actually bore them and simply become clichés for shallow praise?

Rockstar: Supernova runner-up Dilana has had her fair share of being called a Janis Joplin, but this shouldn’t be held against her. Having full knowledge of how this business works (having started at the very bottom and eventually becoming a new buzz name on every rock mag’s radar) she must take this unctuous praise philosophically.

Spending years as a struggling artist without giving up on her dream is an achievement in itself, and Dilana’s second place on the Rockstar: Supernova talent-scouting reality TV show back in 2006 now looks like a well-deserved break. Her debut album on Kabunk, however, presents problems of a different kind. Having finally managed to grab the spotlight through relentless hard work, Dilana finds herself torn between sticking to the wild rock chick image that got her where she is now and an urge to generate some serious chart action.

The end result is sketchy and inconsistent. Dilana’s brand of radio-friendly pop-rock doesn’t have enough punch to win her any serious support from the bona fide rock fans, and her pop leanings are compromised by her untamed image. What she is really good at is writing hooky straight-up pop songs, and her voice (although not even remotely anything like Joplin’s) is at its best when it lends itself to gorgeous melodies as on standouts “Ice” and “Falling Apart”.

You could say that those two ballads is where Dilana sounds her most authentic and convincing, stripped of the false bravado of bumpier, trendier tracks. And you may be right, but only until you hear the epic closer of the album “The Question” – the magnum opus of this record, which is neither a radio-friendly pop-rocker, nor a ballad, but a bold and confident musical statement full of genuine raw-edged intensity Dilana is really capable of when she lets herself express her true self.

Here, indeed, she is almost Joplin-like in her anti-chic stance – earnest and warm – and only here she is able to convincingly cohere rock and pop, plus throw in dashes of psychedelia, blues, and folk for a good measure. It all sounds at once moving and unified, heartfelt and absolutely sincere, and then you start wondering what on earth she was doing wasting so much album space on trendy nonsense and not exploring this direction which could be her real ticket to a long-lasting career.

One last thing to mention is the fact that two rock luminaries – Mick Mars of Motley Crue and Adrian Young of No Doubt make an appearance on this album. Thankfully, they do well by not confusing things any further and keeping them nice and simple. It is up to Dilana herself now to decide which direction she wants to go in. Hopefully, on her second album she will start exploring in earnest what she is best at doing – finding her own voice through experiments with traditional styles, and, most importantly, not losing a sense of who she is as opposed to who the radio jocks want her to be.

Label: Kabunk Records

Track listing:

1. Holiday
2. My Drug
3. Hate U!!
4. Loud Silence
5. Somebody Else
6. Ice
7. Solid Gold
8. Dirty Little Secret
9. World Party (Free Love)
10. Still Wanting
11. The Question

Hardrock Haven rating: 6/10