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Charlie Hilton, known up until now for her work in the bandBlouse, has now forged a new identity with her debut soloalbum, Palana.

It should come as no surprise that many of the songs onPalana are concerned with shifting characters, forms andideas. The albums title itself is a nod to Hiltons given Sanskritname, an identity she shed completely after high school infavour of the androgynous Charlie and Palanas overarchingtheme can be summed up by a quote from Hermen HessesSteppenwolf, a phrase Hilton cites as a personal mantra: Manis not by any means of fixed and enduring form he is muchmore an experiment and a transition

Enlisting Unknown Mortal Orchestras Jacob Portrait asproducer, Hilton freely experimented with diverse sounds andmoods – some minimal and some cacophonous – out of theconfines of a band structure. Funny Anyway is truly stark,featuring only string accompaniments, with Hilton assuming arole akin to a confessional French chanteuse, while Lets Go ToA Party is Hiltons cheeky take on an icy dance track with thick,bouncing synths and a chorus that echoes Im only happywhen Im dancing. Alternatively, tracks like Pony harken backto the psychedelic strengths of Blouse, saluting bands likeBroadcast and United States Of America and then theres 100Million, the sole track produced by Woods Jarvis Taveniere thatrounds out the album in a soft, acoustic and light-hearted waywith labelmate Mac DeMarco lending his talents on percussionand back-up vocals.

This wide range of moods on Palana recall several of Hiltonskey influences – the solemn beauty of Nico, the whimsicalnature of Marc Bolan and the navet of Jonathan Richman -but the album is undeniably the work of one artist, perhapsbest summed up by the artist herself: The music on this recordis diverse, but so is the inside of a person. I feel like Im manypeople.

Tracklisting
1.Palana
2.Something For Us All
3.Pony
4.Long Goodbye
5.Funny Anyway
6.WHY
7.Lets Go To A Party
8.Snow
9.The Young
10.No One Will
11.100 Million