That same year, Joanna Swan wrote lyrics and recorded voices for an album with French composer Francois-Elie Roulin, "Alien Robots Orchestra".
The fourth album (but the third one as Ilya), Carving Heads on Cherry Stones, was released on CD on 23 June 2009 and exclusively sold through the band's website.
Before the digital release of the All Around My Heart 4-track EP (21 April 2010), an exclusive track (Carrion Crows) was given away to fans through the Ilya mailing list.
Financing the sixth album (titled Blind as Hope) went through a crowdfunding process, as the band opted for a more ambitious – and somewhat more expensive – orchestral sound.
A few months later, singer Joanna Swan requested from the pledgers to volunteer for backing vocals on one track, Blind as Hope, by sending their home-recorded parts.
Ilya's seventh album, Gospel, an obvious return to lounge atmospheric jazz that was the trademark of their early sound, was digitally released on 10 May 2016 by the band itself, through an announcement on their Facebook page.