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Lenka: On the bright side of life
Courtesy of Sony Music IndonesiaFor Australian singer-songwriter Lenka Kripac, her new album reflects a new chapter in her life
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Courtesy of Sony Music Indonesia
For Australian singer-songwriter Lenka Kripac, her new album reflects a new chapter in her life.
Life has changed for 'The Show' and 'Trouble is a Friend' singer Lenka Kripac. She is now raising her 3-year-old toddler, Quinn, and is expecting her second child.
Her new chapter in life is reflected in her fourth album, The Bright Side, released in June. On it, there is a sweet lullaby for her son in the first single, 'Blue Skies', and her initial collaboration with her father on 'My Love'.
The 11-track The Bright Side delivers what the title promises. It is loaded with upbeat tunes and Lenka's signature quirky songs, which somehow say that her life is filled with abundant joy.
The new album also marks Lenka's return to her whimsical and joie de vivre spirit after the 2013 dark-sounding release, Shadows.
'I wanted to just really flip it and do really something different to the last album,' she said to a handful of journalists in Jakarta.
'I guess when making this album, I didn't want to have any darkness or even much sentimentality. It's just about striving for happiness and keeping it.'
The tune of the album's first single, 'Blue Skies', was first conceived when Lenka tried to entertain her son in the car. A storm was passing and Lenka looked to the sky.
'That it's gonna be blue skies for you and I. We'll step out of the shadows and walk into the light,' Lenka sang to her 3-year-old.
She recorded the melody on her phone before laying down some chords on a keyboard to add what she described as a 'new-wave filmic vibe' to the bluesy-sounding song.
Like in her previous music videos, Lenka was involved in the creative process of the 'Blue Skies' video, incorporating the concept of a 'dreamy suburban vintage kind of feel' to it.
Lenka said she had a fun time curating tracks on the album with the help of her son.
'He had his say over which songs he liked. When I would play them at home, he'd say 'Oh, I like that one, Mommy', or he'd say 'Don't like that one, Mom; it's too slow'.'
Being a mother posed some challenges for Lenka's music career, including with The Bright Side's production.
As Lenka wants to be with her son in Sydney, she worked remotely with her producers and collaborators in the US and Canada, communicating through Skype and sending recordings back and forth until they perfected the songs.
'In the past, I would be like, 'Oh, there is this guy I want to work with in London'. I would just go to London for a month. I can't really do that anymore,' she said.
'It's not as fun as being in the studio together, but it was a sacrifice that I had to make, to stay home, be a mom and get the album made.'
However, Lenka managed to spend some time sitting on the sand in Malibu, California, with Jason Reeves, with whom she wrote 'The Show'.
Armed with a guitar, they created 'Unique', a nimble folk-pop song that celebrates individuality.
'Unique' resonates to most of her listeners, with many of them approaching Lenka after shows and thanking her for writing the song.
'It was actually a kind of a hard song to write, but it's had the strongest reaction on the album so far,' she said.
'They [fans] really feel like it's an anthem for them, particular people who don't feel like they fit in. A lot of people with disabilities, people from the transgender community, [...] people with Down syndrome persons in their families and people who are not feeling good about themselves.'
Lenka speaks about unconditional love in 'My Love', which marked her debut collaboration with her father, Czech-born jazz trumpeter, Jiri Kripac.
'He is really a jazz purist, like he doesn't really like pop music. We sort of meet in the middle with this like '60s soul doo-wop kind of sound, which is like where jazz was on its way to becoming pop music and passes through doo-wop,' Lenka said, laughing.
Did they argue a lot in the recording process? 'Well, I was the boss,' she laughed. 'He didn't get to argue too much, but I wanted him to be happy as well.'
Her father plays significant role in Lenka's music career. He put her in piano and trumpet lessons when she was 6. She hated the lessons and grew fond of acting.
Lenka starred in various Australian films and TV series during her teenage years before moving to California in 2007 to launch her solo music career and produce lovable hits that eventually put her on the pop culture map.
For the time being, Lenka does not set any specific goals in her career. She is not planning to go on a lengthy tour that keeps her away from her son.
She allocates her time to be at home, write songs for some artists in Australia and explore the limited fashion choices that she has during pregnancy.
'My vintage dresses with tight waists are off limit at the moment. I am a little bit struggling for choice because I have been just wearing a moo moo,' she said. 'I have been phoning my friends and asking anyone, do they have any beautiful moo moos, capes or big dresses?'
A night before the interview, Lenka wore a big round hat during her performance at the 38th Jakarta Goes to Campus Festival at the University of Indonesia campus in Depok, West Java.
'I felt it [the hat] was like the baby bump on my head. I just tried to have fun with it, I guess,' she said.
Lenka is comfortable using music as her main creative output and is pleased to see her poignant coming-of-age hit 'The Show' featured on soundtracks, such as for the US sitcoms Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy and the Brad Pitt-starred baseball drama Moneyball.
But Lenka still holds a dream to take part in movies or TV shows ' not just as the soundtrack singer, but an actress.
'I am so much more empowered in what I do as a musician that even though I love acting, I'll never go back to it full time,' she says. 'But I still really dream to play, like the evil queen in the fairytale, one day."
