Listen here: Hollywood
German South African singer songwriter Lilliane introduces herself with Hollywood, her debut EP arriving October 9. Across five songs, she explores the distance between the life we imagine for ourselves and the one that actually unfolds, moving through love, heartbreak, loneliness and the uncomfortable realities of growing up.
The title comes from Lilliane’s long standing fascination with Hollywood and everything it seemed to represent. Growing up surrounded by celebrity culture and images of Los Angeles, she saw it as a place where ambitious dreams could become reality. Experiencing more of the world behind that image eventually complicated the fantasy.
Rather than becoming disillusioned by that discovery, Lilliane began thinking about the ways people construct idealised versions of their own futures. Hollywood became a metaphor for the moment when those expectations meet reality.
That tension runs throughout the EP. Its five tracks include previously released singles “I Dream of You,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Fairytale,” alongside two new songs, including the title track.
“Hollywood” opens the record by confronting the gap between expectation and reality. It is not necessarily about abandoning the big dreams Lilliane grew up with, but understanding that life rarely follows the version we have already written in our heads.
That perspective becomes more personal on “I Dream of You,” a song about navigating a long distance relationship and the frustration of being physically separated from someone you love. Released as Lilliane’s debut single in February 2026, the track has since accumulated nearly 20,000 Spotify streams and became her first song to receive radio play.
“Hotel Room” approaches loneliness from another angle. Inspired by travelling for work, the song captures those quiet stretches spent alone in an unfamiliar room while wishing you were back among friends and family.
Relationships become increasingly complicated on the second half of the EP. “Fairytale” deals with the painful realisation that somebody you are romantically involved with is developing feelings for someone else. Closing track “Fatal Attraction” takes a more energetic approach, turning the experience of a toxic relationship into a song about finally finding the confidence to leave.
Together, the songs reveal a young artist gradually reconsidering what happiness, relationships and success are supposed to look like.
Musically, Hollywood draws from indie pop and soft rock, pairing contemporary songwriting with the warmth and melody of 1970s influenced production. Lilliane cites Daisy Jones & The Six, Fleetwood Mac, Mazzy Star and The Cranberries among her influences, references that can be heard in the EP’s balance between nostalgia and modern indie songwriting.
Music has been a constant presence in Lilliane’s life. Growing up in a German South African household where records were always playing, she began singing in school choirs and spent her childhood performing along to CDs, occasionally substituting an empty deodorant bottle for a microphone.
She later spent three years studying musical theatre. Although she still has an affection for the form, songwriting eventually became the place where she felt able to exercise greater creative freedom. Writing her own material allowed her to construct the stories and worlds herself rather than stepping into somebody else’s.
That instinct is particularly apparent on Hollywood. The EP is less interested in presenting adulthood as something Lilliane has figured out than capturing the point where some of her earlier assumptions began to change. Heartbreak exists alongside hope, while loneliness and disappointment never completely extinguish the optimism underneath them.
The record was written by Lilliane Koller, Amy Tjasink, Jono Greyling and Theo Mulder. Greyling and Mulder produced the EP, with Mulder also handling mixing and mastering.
Hollywood ultimately arrives at a simple conclusion: accepting reality does not have to mean giving up on imagination. Sometimes the dream simply needs to change.
For Lilliane, that makes her debut EP both an introduction and a reassessment. The rose tinted version of life might be fading, but what replaces it is more complicated, more personal and perhaps more interesting.
Hollywood is released October 9.
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PR contact: Leopold Oakes | [email protected]
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