Lenka

In Sydney, Australia, Lenka was a teen actress who trained with Cate Blanchett, thereafter landing leading roles on stage, television and indie films. A self-described ‘punk-ass art school student’ and vocalist/keyboardist for acclaimed indie Electronic/ambient outfit Decoder Ring. She has flung herself into two new worlds simultaneously: she’s moved to California and become a solo artist. Whether channelling our long-repressed terrors (‘Trouble’) or long-lost innocence (‘We Will Not Grow Old’), her music evokes primal emotions, unblemished by pretense or cynicism and unashamed of cracking a smile occasionally. Lenka’s fresh sensibility extends to every element of her music, as the whimsical, paper art, stoimated videos she creates.’It’s a mood-enhancer,’ she says of her record, ‘I don’t like it when people are depressed. I want to cheer them up.’