Jana Mila has signed to New West Records and will release her debut album, Chameleon, on August 30, 2024.

The Amsterdam-Born singer-songwriter’s debut introduces Jana Mila (pronounced Yah-nuh MEE-law) as an artist deeply committed to self-reckoning and self-possession. Writing songs is her means of finding and sustaining her identity. She says, “The album is a conversation with myself, a way of getting to know myself better. There are little fears woven into every lyric, but there’s also advice to myself. I’m writing to find a better part of myself that has some wisdom” She puts her stamp on every note, turning those fears into an album of remarkable confidence, eloquence, and power. Chameleon is a self-portrait rendered in vibrant detail.

Today, Brooklyn Vegan premiered the album’s first single “Somebody New.” Mila says, “There was a moment not too long ago when suddenly all these suppressed emotions came to light and turned my relationship upside down. I found myself trying to soothe the growing resentment towards me, even though I was the cause of it. A day later, this song seemed to almost write itself.”

Jana grew up in a household devoted to playing and teaching all kinds of music: her mother sings Brazilian music, her father plays saxophone in big bands, and her brother studies Indian music. After entering a local contest for young songwriters at 17 and playing shows around Holland for a couple of years, Mila caught the attention of Dutch country superstar Ilse DeLange, who took her under her wings and arranged a songwriting trip to Nashville in June 2022. They spent two weeks hanging out and swapping ideas while making new friends, including the veteran producer/songwriter/musician Todd Lombardo. Just a few months later, she was back in Nashville recording Chameleon at his home studio.

Now that she is taking these songs to larger audiences, Mila has realized how much songwriting has changed her as a person and how it has made her feel more at home in the world. She says, “Every time I play a song or even talk about a song, my perspective on it changes, and therefore the song changes. There are infinite ways to hear it and interpret it. I used to be so scared to ask questions about myself, but now I have more courage and I want to have people understand me through my songs.”