Lenka“Recently I had this funny feeling that I've always just been writing one song ever since I was a teenager.”
It's a cold morning in Sydney's inner-west, and Lenka Kripac – known mononymously as Lenka – is perched on her couch with a tea while her beloved cavoodle Django paces around the living room.
She's reflecting on 30 years of writing songs – or indeed, one 30-year-long song – in the wake of the release of her seventh studio album, Good Days.
“It's had a few tangents, but I'm still essentially writing the same one,” she admits. “David Bowie said in an interview once that he likes to remind artists to think about why they started.
“It was, invariably, because you had something to say – and you've got to remember that every time you keep making your art. I'm up to my seventh album, and I'm still basically doing exactly the same thing.”
Nowadays, Kripac still remembers Bowie's words, yet acknowledges that there's been some, shall we say, ch-ch-changes along the way. “The relationship to why I do what I do has changed, especially when it became a job,” she says. “You can't help but think about it when you're not just doing it to play to yourself in your bedroom.
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“What is it that people might want from me? How do I differentiate myself from the landscape of musicians, let alone the thousands and thousands of female singer-songwriters doing pretty similar stuff to me? The song content hasn't changed much – I'm still writing optimistic pop songs – but I do think more consciously about them, and I've learned a lot more about how songs land.
“My craft has gotten better, and I've become more wisened to what music can do,” she adds. “I know what works and what doesn't.”
On Good Days, Kripac has not only found what works for her but has done so in a manner that feels inspired. She describes the album as “classic singer-songwriter sounds, very much inspired by Bill Withers and Carly Simon,” with a blend of vintage pop and soul that similarly shaped her self-titled debut album but with a further 18 years of experience under her belt.
With sizzling horns, bright choruses, and an unbridled sense of optimism, the album's happy-go-lucky nature was also reflecting in its brisk creative process. “It all came together pretty quickly,” says Kripac.
“Once I had Sunshine Girl, I had Good Days not long after that. So Far So Good wasn't too far off, either. By that point, I had really dialled in what the sound of the record was going to be – this run of songs seemed to really unlock everything, and I could see the whole album from that point.”
Behind the boards was Tony Buchen, an award-winning producer and engineer who has previously worked on records for other singer-songwriters like Meg Mac, Hatchie, and G Flip. Although the two had never worked together, they crossed paths with perfect timing.
“I was slated to go in with a producer in LA, but it fell through at the last minute and he didn't have any space for ages,” Kripac explains.
“I had to pivot fast, because I knew if I didn't get these songs recorded soon it was all going to fall flat. Dave Jenkins Jr., who produced my last album, was the one who suggested Tony. Luckily, he could meet me right where I was – we were both back in Sydney, and he had brought all of this gorgeous vintage gear back with him when he moved back from LA.
“It was the exact thing I needed to make this soul-pop record.”
Towards the end of the album is the track Silver Linings, which was the last song on Good Days to be written but arguably carries the most sentimental value.
“I've got lots of friends with breast cancer, unfortunately, and during the process of recording my lovely friends on the [New South Wales] south coast made a podcast for our friend going through treatment,” says Kripac.
“Her name is Odetta, and we call her Detty, so they were making a podcast called Detty's Ditties For Her Titties. All we had to do was pick a song and do a little voice message, just so she could get cheered up and have a have a laugh.
“I was like, 'I'm gonna go one better: I'm gonna write her a schmaltzy optimistic ballad to keep our eyes on the prize', because I know that positive thinking is very important when you're going through cancer,” she adds. “It's really, really helped a lot of people that I know to remain as optimistic as possible, and to keep the rainbows.”
Kripac is also happy to report that Odette has improved a lot since the song was written: “She had very aggressive chemo, so she was very sick for about eight months. I think it's too early to really assess where she's at cancer-wise, but she's feeling a lot better.”
With Good Days out in the world, it's now time for Kripac to officially launch it. She's poised to take the stage at the illustrious Vanguard in the top end of Newtown on June 25th, making it as close to a hometown show as possible.
Not only will be she be premiering from Good Days live for the first time, she won't be doing it alone. “I've got a seven-piece for the show, which I've never done before,” says Kripac.
“Because there's such a horn sound on this record, I wanted to bring them in. Tony calls it the Motown combo – the sax, trombone and trumpet. They'll be joined by Dave, Ben Corbett and Ross James, who all play together a lot and have toured through Australia and China with me.
“Their level of professionalism is unlike anything I've witnessed in my entire career,” she adds. “These three work so hard behind the scenes, and they do everything they can to put on a good show because they truly care.”
Lenka’s Good Days is out now. Tickets to her album launch show on June 25th are available now.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
