Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Lana Crow

Lana Crows’ “What Brings You Back” is an atmospheric, introspective single that imagines what it might sound like if God spoke directly to us. Continuing the cinematic, moody sound of her earlier releases “Orwellian Times” and “I Do,” the track blends ethereal production with deeply human questions about fear, loss, and connection.

Interview with Lana Crow

(•)> What inspired the concept behind “What Brings You Back”?

My third album, In Spirit, is meant to delve deeper into spirituality, so this song felt like a natural progression toward the overarching theme and purpose of the album.

(•)> How does this single build on the cinematic and moody sound of your previous releases?

Cinematic and moody is definitely a prevalent vibe in this album. With this song, though, I am taking it a step further in terms of depth and introspection. It’s kind of a natural next step, where the mood evolves as I dive deeper into themes of purpose and spirituality.

(•)> Can you describe your songwriting process for a track that imagines God speaking to us?

I honestly don't remember exactly how the melody came to me, but I do remember the challenge of trying to capture my idea of God in just a few words for a three-minute song.

My view of God isn't the traditional distant figure in the sky. Years ago, I was told that God is this immense intelligence—half of it in a realm beyond our comprehension, and the other half residing within every human being. That idea stuck with me. It completely shifted how started to I see the world and other people, and it triggered some huge positive changes in my life. I didn't realize at the time how much of a game-changer that mindset shift would be—I only connected the dots much later.

So now I think of humans as these perfect, Godly beings placed into the realm of limitation and doctrine. Every human is born into a certain society by choice. There is no perfect society, but some societies are more messed up than others—just like some parents are more messed up than other parents.

The point is, nobody really knows how each one of us is going to turn out. Yes, we are mostly stripped of our choices as kids, but as we grow up, it really becomes up to us, and it is never guaranteed that we will choose a certain path over another.

So basically, in the chorus, all these questions God asks—'What makes you laugh? Sad?'—the answers would be different for everyone. I mean, in some societies, killing people is celebrated, and associating murder with joy is perfectly acceptable. But I have seen some people come out of these societies as fighters, speaking against those very societies that initially indoctrinated them. And this change of mindset is extremely hard to achieve—so like I said, nothing is guaranteed.

Ultimately, our emotions and reactions shape the road ahead. We can cling to hatred, or we can consciously redirect our thoughts toward something that breaks the cycle. To hold all of that in a song, I chose to ask questions — because growth and healing only really begin when we’re willing to examine ourselves.

(•)> Which musical influences shaped the production and atmosphere of this song?

I asked my producer, George Harris, to continue the vibe and atmosphere from my song ‘I Do,’ so both ‘I Do’ and ‘What Brings You Back’ have a similar feel. The idea was to maintain that emotional, atmospheric sound that’s both cinematic and introspective.

(•)> How do you balance introspective lyrics with pop-rock hooks in your work?

I don’t really have a specific formula for it—it’s all pretty spontaneous. Nothing is really calculated in my songwriting process. I think the balance just kind of happens naturally.

(•)> What emotions or ideas do you hope listeners take away from this track?

I would love people to understand that they are precious and that their thoughts and feelings matter. They play a far greater role in shaping their own lives, as well as the world at large, than they realize. I went through a very painful journey to arrive at this understanding, and I would rather others get there faster than I did.

(•)> How did your personal experiences inform the themes of fear, loss, and connection in the song?

Fear dominated most of my life, and for a long time, I didn’t realize how much it was steering my journey. I suffered several losses—some of them immense by any standard—before I understood that my own fears were what caused them.

I’ve since learned to face those fears, and I’ve found a huge benefit in just being honest about my own weaknesses, as unpleasant as that can be. Admitting to my own flaws actually helped me genuinely connect with people—the kind of people I can be my authentic self with. It’s not that my bad traits disappeared, but recognizing them helped me see that how others react is often just a reflection of my own behavior. Once I realized that, I stopped feeling so alarmed by their reactions.

But I do think we are living through very tough times right now, and the brutality of the world still scares me. When I see what is happening in Iran—how many people were brutally murdered in such a short space of time, and how there is hardly any media coverage or public outcry over that level of death and torture—it feels like we are losing our humanity to pride. It is hard to digest.

(•)> How does “What Brings You Back” connect to the overarching narrative of your albums I Will and Live It?

It is like the final chapter of a book. It takes all the themes from my previous art, mixes them together, and presents this song as the ultimate outcome of the story.

(•)> What was your approach to vocal delivery and instrumentation on this single?

In terms of instrumentation, I wanted this song to sound similar to 'I Do,' as we touched on earlier. Regarding the vocals, I really struggled with the delivery. I was recording while I had bronchitis and my throat was on fire. I could have waited, but I’m not a patient person, and I really wanted to release the song on the 7th of January because that date has special significance for me. So, I pushed as hard as I could.

I wanted the vocals to convey deep emotion, which was incredibly difficult at the time. Every time I started recording, I would feel myself contracting inside because I knew singing would hurt; I had to push through that fear of pain. The pain and the illness would get worse afterward, of course, and I had to re-record several times because the vocal stems weren't perfect, but I kept going for three days until I was too sick to continue.

If you listen closely, you can hear a kind of layered vocal texture in a few places in the verses as a result of this. I even asked the mixing engineer if he used Auto-Tune there because the sound didn’t seem normal, but he confirmed he hadn’t. He was also battling the flu and couldn’t hear perfectly, so we both pushed through our physical struggles to get this done. I eventually went on antibiotics and felt better, but by then I was traveling abroad to see family, so I wasn’t going to be able to re-record until two weeks later. I decided I had done the best I could and let it be. Strangely, the higher notes were quite easy to reach despite the pain—I’m not entirely sure how I pulled that off.

(•)> Are there any upcoming live performances or visual projects planned to accompany this release?

I have released a lyric video, but I don’t have any live performances planned at the moment. As an independent artist, I am currently focusing my resources on the digital release and reaching my audience online.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Lana Crow on the Pigeon Opinion Playlist