Music Review: Get to Know Gilanares

With a name as memorable and unique as her lyrics, Gilanares is sure to leave her mark on the indie world. Her breakout song “Good Person” went viral on TikTok, exponentially launching her music career. The virality of the song solidified Gilanares’ self esteem, resulting in her artful works of today. Often bringing worst parts of ourselves to the surface, Gilanares’ lyrics are raw and authentic.

Gilanares revealed she finds comfort back through fans, stating, “My music was the first place I was able to be real with myself…that song is the perfect balance of accepting things I didn’t like about myself, while also holding myself accountable.” Not being afraid of disturbing truths is perhaps the most attractive aspect of her work.

21 Weeks, 21 Songs

As stated, her clear talent for songwriting shines in Gilanares’ most recent project. Taking on the challenge of releasing a song on SoundCloud every week for 21 weeks, Gilanares opened her best works yet to the world. Gilanares revealed her biggest inspiration for this was famous rap artist, Russ. As he made his way through a series of singles, Gilanares took on to this down-to-earth approach at music. This allowed Gilanares’ strong voice to truly shine each week. Looking back at the hard work, Gilanares states, “It was a really important experience, regardless of how insane it was.”

Though other artists helped inspire Gilanares, her talent began at a very young age. Still pulling elements from her past songbooks, Gilanares claims that songwriting is her ultimate outlet. Her newest hit “Eggshells” captures her poetic abilities and current favorite verses. Ending with powerful lines such as, “I like you better when you’re scared of me,” Gilanares writes as her most vulnerable self. The emotion in her voice encapsulates each note.

In fact, one of her newest releases, “i kinda want the world to end” openly addresses the cruelties of the world. The upbeat melody juxtaposes angsty lyrics, creating a distinctive aspect of her work.

Suburban Nightmare (2021)

Furthermore, Gilanares’ refreshing take of the “American Dream” became the overarching theme of her new album, Surburban Nightmare. Growing up first generation in America, Gilanares struggled to find balance between feeling grateful for and acknowledging faults within the experience. Gilanares explained,“I know there are certain elements of the life my family has now that were glorified a lot more than they should have been.”

This pressure to live up to the “American Dream” expectation is reflected within this album. Her song, “I Know You Wanna Run Away to Hollywood, Jenny” highlights this perfectly. The lines, “Got to prove to yourself you can earn a pretty penny” and “You know men in L.A. only wanna see you naked,” exposes the atrocities of the entertainment industry. There is no limit to what Gilanares addresses in this original album.

In addition, both “Brainwash” and “The Twilight Zone” are pulled from lyrics written years ago. Gilanares revealed that the message of these songs came to her during her earlier years of high school. Her humble nature showed when she described how it felt to look back on her old songs. Gilanares laughed when saying, “I’ll go through stuff and think, ‘Oh my gosh, she was a genius! And then other times it’s, ‘You really have to write awful things sometimes to get to what is good’.”

Though both works took extra hours to create, the hard work and time put into these songs truly paid off. “The Twilight Zone” is the perfect ending to the album. It establishes an eerie essence of mystery, leaving fans wanting more.

Constant Creation & More

Without a doubt, Gilanares’ genuine connection with her fans is the foundation for her well deserved success. Though she has reached high numbers on TikTok and Spotify, her proudest moment came from something a bit more unexpected.

She explained that her YouTube following grew slowly, noting how each subscriber had to truly discover and enjoy her work. Gilanares revealed, “It was more of a slow burn…but when I reached 1k subscribers on YouTube, I felt it in my heart.” When she reached that milestone, she felt deep pride in knowing her art was being appreciated thoroughly. The consistent growth and loyal fanbase left Gilanares motivated to continue pursuing this path.

Overall, Gilanares believes that the passion inside her is there for a reason. She uses this inner fire to fuel her songwriting abilities and maintain a true connection with her fans. Currently, she is recording more new singles, in hopes of expanding visual artistry. Influenced by Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” music video, Gilanares was deeply inspired by the storytelling. She plans to create visual albums to tell the life stories behind her work in the near future.

Gilanares is on her way to further success, as this is only the beginning.