The singer-songwriter’s latest projects revisit two formative years in Los Angeles, when musical ambition and heartbreak unfolded side by side.
LOS ANGELES – Long before she performed under the name LANDA, Polina Salionova was a girl growing up in Novorossiysk, listening to artists such as Avril Lavigne and imagining a life in music. Years later, her path would take her through medical school before bringing her to Los Angeles to pursue the ambition that had stayed with her.
After moving to Moscow, Salionova enrolled in medical school and completed her medical education. The years of study gave her a professional direction, but they did not quiet her interest in singing and songwriting. Even after graduation, music remained something she wanted to pursue.
She eventually went to Los Angeles, where she studied at and graduated from Musicians Institute. Over two years of music studies, she worked toward turning a childhood dream into a career, developing her craft while beginning to build a place for herself on the city’s stages.
Her Los Angeles performance history includes The Viper Room, The Peppermint Club, El Cid, Molly Malone’s, Adults Only and Bar Lis. She also held a Friday residency at Petit Ermitage and performed at
Breaking Sound events. Those appearances became part of the experience she would later revisit in her songwriting.
Now performing as LANDA, she has released more than 25 tracks. In 2024, she was named Singer of the Year by Music Box Russia, adding a milestone to a journey that began far from the Los Angeles venues where she would share her music.
Her two latest projects, “Hollywood” and “I Close the Door,” draw on the story of those two years at Musicians Institute. Together, they reflect two experiences unfolding during the same period: the excitement of pursuing a musical dream and the pain of a relationship ending.
Released in July 2026, “Hollywood” tells the outward-facing side of that chapter. It draws on her determination to make her way in Los Angeles, studying music and performing across the city. The song carries encouragement for listeners pursuing ambitions of their own, shaped by the effort and uncertainty she experienced herself.
“I Close the Door,” scheduled for release on October 16, 2026, turns toward what was happening away from the stage. While she was pursuing her dream, she was also going through a breakup. The song is closely connected to the Hollywood apartment where she lived during that time, preserving the memory of a goodbye within the place she once called home.
The two projects tell different parts of the same story. As LANDA found opportunities to perform and move forward professionally, her heart was working through a separation. Looking back, she has given both experiences a place in her music: the hope that brought her to Hollywood and the heartbreak she carried while she was there.
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