There is a particular challenge in protecting your inner world in an age increasingly overwhelmed by noise and manipulation and false narratives, the difficulty of staying connected to what genuinely matters when so much of contemporary life seems designed to fragment attention and erode connection. Milena Lainović, the London-based singer-songwriter and pianist, has made an album that responds to exactly this challenge, and Chapter 3, released June 5, 2026, blends funky pop and ethno grooves and contemporary classical influences into a rich and eclectic musical journey that ultimately encourages listeners to protect their inner world and hold on to love through uncertain times. This is music that is both emotionally engaging and sonically diverse, the work of an artist with a distinctive voice and a hopeful spiritual message at the heart of her vision.
The eclecticism of Chapter 3 is one of its defining strengths, the album drawing together influences that might seem disparate but that combine in Lainović’s hands into something coherent and personal. The funky pop provides the uplifting rhythms and the accessible energy, the ethno grooves add a global and rhythmic dimension that gives the music a distinctive character, and the contemporary classical influences bring sophistication and depth to the songwriting and arrangement. This combination reflects an artist unwilling to confine herself to a single genre, drawing instead from the full range of her musical interests and training to create something that resists easy categorization, the rich and eclectic journey being the album’s deliberate aesthetic rather than an accidental lack of focus.
The lead single Through The Air sits at the heart of the album both literally and thematically, the groove-driven pop track exploring themes of love and distance and emotional connection in a world increasingly overwhelmed by noise and manipulation and false media narratives. This is genuinely substantial thematic territory, the song engaging with the specific difficulty of maintaining genuine human connection in an environment saturated with distraction and deception, the love and distance of the title referring both to romantic connection across physical distance and to the broader challenge of staying connected to what matters amid the noise. Through The Air, with its imagery of connection traveling across space, captures the way that genuine emotional bonds must reach across the distractions and the false narratives that would separate us.
What elevates Through The Air beyond a simple meditation on connection is its hopeful and spiritual resolution. The song ultimately delivers a message encouraging listeners to protect their inner world and remain connected to the Creator and hold on to love through uncertain times, and this spiritual dimension gives the track a depth and a purpose beyond the romantic surface. The encouragement to protect the inner world is particularly resonant in the contemporary moment, the recognition that in an age of constant noise and manipulation, the cultivation and protection of a genuine interior life has become both more difficult and more important. The spiritual message, the connection to the Creator and the holding on to love, offers an anchor against the uncertainty, a source of stability amid the chaos.
The vibrant energy and uplifting rhythms that carry Through The Air ensure that this spiritual and thematic seriousness never becomes heavy or preachy, the groove-driven pop framework delivering the message through music that genuinely lifts and energizes. This balance between substantial content and uplifting delivery is characteristic of the album as a whole, the funky pop and ethno grooves providing the energy and accessibility while the thoughtful songwriting and spiritual dimension provide the depth, the two reinforcing each other rather than working at cross purposes. The official music video premiering alongside the release extends the song’s themes into the visual realm, giving the message of connection and hope an additional dimension.
Find Me follows the lead single with what its title suggests, a song of seeking and being sought, the desire to be found being one of the most fundamental human longings. In the context of the album’s broader themes of connection amid noise, Find Me speaks to the longing to be genuinely seen and known in a world that often makes authentic recognition difficult, the plea to be found being the counterpart to the connection that Through The Air reaches for. The track continues the album’s exploration of how we maintain genuine human bonds in challenging circumstances, the seeking and finding being the basic movements of connection.
Solo brings a different energy to the collection, featuring the drums and percussion of Nick Van Gelder, and the title suggests a meditation on solitude and independence. After the songs of connection and seeking, Solo explores the other side of the human condition, the experience of being alone, which can be both a challenge and a source of strength. The contribution of Van Gelder on drums and percussion gives the track a distinctive rhythmic foundation, the percussion adding energy and movement to a song whose title might suggest stillness, the contrast between the solo theme and the rhythmic vibrancy creating an interesting tension.
Above All The Ground closes the vocal portion of the album with a title that suggests elevation and transcendence, the rising above the ground connecting to the spiritual themes that run throughout Chapter 3. To be above all the ground is to achieve a kind of elevation beyond the earthly concerns and the noise and manipulation that the album engages with, the track perhaps representing the spiritual ascension toward which the whole album moves. This elevation theme provides a fitting culmination for an album concerned with protecting the inner world and maintaining connection to the Creator, the rising above suggesting the transcendence of the difficulties that the earlier tracks confront.
The album concludes with an instrumental version of Above All The Ground featuring Alexandro Schillaci, who provides the arrangement and orchestration and production for the track. This instrumental closing allows the contemporary classical influences that inform the album to come fully forward, the orchestration and arrangement showcasing the sophisticated musical dimension of Lainović’s vision without the vocals. The decision to close with an instrumental version of the elevation-themed track gives the album a contemplative and transcendent conclusion, the music itself rising above all the ground in a wordless expression of the spiritual aspiration that animates the whole project.
The collaborative foundation of Chapter 3 reflects genuine musical partnership. While all songs are written by Milena Lainović, who performs synths and piano and electric piano and vocals, the album was brought to life through collaboration with Mounssif Chebri, who provides electric guitar and drums and percussion and bass and who arranged and recorded and produced and mixed and mastered all tracks at Sonic Brew Productions. This close collaboration between Lainović’s songwriting and vision and Chebri’s instrumental and production work gives the album its cohesion, the partnership allowing Lainović’s distinctive artistic voice to be fully realized in sound. The additional contributions of Van Gelder and Schillaci enrich specific tracks, bringing their particular expertise to the collaborative whole.
Chapter 3 is the next installment in Milena Lainović’s ongoing artistic journey, the chapter designation suggesting a continuing story of creative development and exploration. The album’s combination of eclectic influences and thoughtful songwriting and spiritual depth reflects an artist with a clear and distinctive vision, the funky pop and ethno grooves and contemporary classical elements all serving a unified purpose, the encouragement to protect the inner world and hold on to love through uncertain times.
In a world overwhelmed by noise and manipulation and false narratives, Milena Lainović offers an album that encourages connection and hope and the protection of the genuine inner life. Chapter 3 charts a rich and eclectic musical journey toward elevation and transcendence, the diverse sounds and thoughtful songwriting combining into a collection that engages both the heart and the spirit.
Through the air and above all the ground, holding on to love and connection amid the uncertainty. Milena Lainović has made an album that rises above the noise, and its hopeful spiritual message lingers long after the final orchestral note has faded.
