Internationally-acclaimed pop artist, Lenka is back with two new EPs that ends a three-year hiatus for 'The Show' singer.
With a rekindled fire in her belly, Lenka is set to take her fans on a sugary sweet, albeit, introspective journey with her new EPs, 'Recover' (a release of covers) and 'Discover' (which features six new, original songs).
'The Show' has been sweeping the world since 2008; its success has been so widespread that not only has it been featured in various blockbuster films and television series, it also culminated in a cover performance by Billy Crystal at the 2012 Oscars.
Before 'The Show' took the world by storm, Lenka's humble beginnings saw her blossom into an Australian household name in her 20s, where she had a stint hosting 'Cheez TV'. Lenka then went on to front ethereal indie-electronic band Decoder Ring.
As Lenka refined her musicianship with Decoder Ring, she began cultivating her personal brand and sound, priming her to embark on a solo career. “I'm an indie pop singer-songwriter,” Lenka says.
“I usually go for very optimistic music – it appears that way, anyway. “Once you dive deeper, that's not always the case. I've released five solo albums, and two with Decoder Ring, and I used to have a major label deal in America, so my career was very pop-orientated for a while. But then I've been independent for the last few albums and living back in Australia.”
Lenka is a born performer. Always has been, always will be. She realised from a young age that the most gratifying way to control and express her own, creative narrative was by writing music. “My creative ethos is therapy through music. It has always been my therapy.
“As I get older and I think about doing something else with my life, I realise I can't actually because I'm very hooked into songwriting as a way of figuring out my own mental health. Whatever I'm going through, I put into songs and it helps me deal with my own emotions.”
However, the cathartic nature of songwriting was temporarily lost for her following the release of her 2017 record, 'Attune'. “I tried to take a break, I got depressed,” laments Lenka.
“Then, with a gentle nudge from my husband – who was like 'you haven't been writing any songs lately, maybe that's why you feel bad?' – I realised I had to keep doing it, because it really is a great release for me. I do try to make music that people will enjoy, but mostly because it is a necessity for myself.”
When Lenka couldn't conjure up the will to write, she turned to other people's music. That's where the notion behind her two-part project, 'Recover' and 'Discover', came from. “'Recover' is all covers, and I've never delved into the world of covers before.
“I've always been such an avid songwriter and that's always been my main passion. But I was struggling for a while – I felt really stuck, so I started getting enticed by other people's songs. That is different for me. That was really fun because you want to approach the song differently. So you get to be quite experimental in the studio.”
'Recover''s sister project, 'Discover' features six brand-new songs from Lenka. 'Discover''s motif centres on Lenka refocussing her creative energy and looking inward to tap into her inner artist. “'Discover' was a really interesting project to see how I have changed in the 11 years since 'The Show' came out.
“I was trying to re-discover myself, and so with the title I was thinking about the different ways that we make coverage of ourselves as artists. I felt like I needed to discover myself again. I felt quite lost in myself, in my identity, having just moved to the country – I was like, 'hang on, am I just a country mum now? Am I just going to join the P&C?'.
“I had to have a moment where I had to stamp my foot and go 'no, I am an artist and I have to rediscover that'. I actually feel like I've rediscovered a natural style that I've always had in my songwriting and production that I had lost a bit.”
'Discover' was produced by Darren Seltmann, one of the founding members of The Avalanches. Seltmann's sample heavy and layered production forced Lenka to approach her composition process from an entirely new angle.
“He's a samples guy. Millions of synthesisers; he loved vinyls, textures, it was really interesting to work with him.
“When I was in the studio, he made me do everything myself – we did 50 or 60 layers on each song. He'd just point to different instruments and say 'play that one'; we'd just mess around and do layer upon, layer upon layer, upon layer. He did a gorgeous job, especially on the song 'Sweet Time'.”
– written by Eden Campbell
Lenka 2020 Tour Dates
Fri 6 Mar - The Toff In Town (Melbourne)Sun 8 Mar - Django @ Camelot (Sydney)
Tue 10 Mar - Adelaide Fringe @ The Mill
Wed 11 Mar - The Junk Bar (Brisbane)
Sat 14 Mar - Berry School Of Arts (NSW)
