Publicity Campaign: Lana Karlay - ‘Cross Your Mind’
Geelong artist Lana Karlay returns with ‘Cross Your Mind’, a pop-rock release about the moment you recognise your worth and choose to walk away, even while part of you still hopes they will realise what they have lost.
It is a feeling that lingers for a lot of people longer than they expect, because letting go is rarely clean. Out Friday 11 September via GYRO, the track opens with soft, dreamy vocals before building into huge guitars, driving drums, and a chorus that lands with clarity.
At its core, ‘Cross Your Mind’ captures the slow burn of emotional imbalance, the mental labour of holding something together alone. Lana traces the point where hope turns into self-respect, and where leaving becomes an act of honesty rather than drama. The title came from the lyric “I have to cross you to cross your mind”, and once it arrived, the rest of the song fell into place.
“Cross Your Mind is about reaching the point where you realise you're carrying the weight of a relationship on your own,” Lana says. “You're constantly thinking about the other person, making excuses for them and trying to hold everything together, while they only seem to think about you when it's convenient or when something goes wrong.”
Co-written and produced by Lana alongside brother duo Mason & Julez, and mastered by Mark Parfitt (Justin Bieber, Kehlani and Meghan Trainer), ‘Cross Your Mind’ draws a clear line in Lana’s sound. Where earlier releases explored different genres, this one commits, blending pop melody with the bite and lift of live instrumentation.
“I think this is the song that really cements the pop-rock direction I've been moving towards as an artist,” she says. “While my previous releases have explored different sounds, Cross Your Mind feels like the point where everything has come together. More than anything, I feel like Cross Your Mind is the closest I've come to finding my own sound. It feels authentic to who I am as both a songwriter and performer, and it's the direction I'm really excited to keep exploring.”
Lana recently supported Darcie Haven at Geelong’s new venue CHURCH. This was an opportunity for punters to see the young teen’s powerful performance.
“I wanted people to see a high-energy set with plenty of emotion, a few surprises and some unreleased music,” she says. “My goal is for people to walk away having had fun, but also feeling connected to the stories behind the songs.”
‘Cross Your Mind’ arrives after a run of releases from the high school student, who has built over 41,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, clocked 1000+ radio plays, and landed a double-page spread in Total Girl and IT GIRL Magazines. Lana was also recently announced as a finalist for the Unsigned Only (Top 12) Teen Category 2026 and as a Semi-Finalist for the American Songwriter Road Ready 2026 Award. With bigger goals in sight, Lana is carving out her own lane, quickly becoming an artist to watch.
“I hope Cross Your Mind reminds people that they're not alone if they've ever felt like they were giving more to a relationship than they were getting back,” Lana says. “It's one of the most honest and vulnerable songs I've written, and I'm really proud of how it turned out.”
