Lenka
Lenka performing at Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, 2009
Lenka performing at Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, 2009
Background information
Birth nameLenka Eden Kripac[1]
Also known asLenka
Born (1978-03-19) 19 March 1978 (age 45)[2][3]
Bega, New South Wales,[4] Australia
GenresIndie pop
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • actress
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • trumpet
  • tambourine
  • castanet
Years active1994–present
Labels
Websitelenkamusic.com

Lenka Eden Kripac (born 19 March 1978) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress best known for her song "The Show", from her debut album, Lenka. "The Show" has been used in numerous advertisements, most notably for Old Navy, as well as the Nickelodeon film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and the 2011 film Moneyball.[5] Her song "Everything at Once" was used in a Windows 8 television advertisement and in a Disney Studio All Access commercial.[6] Her fifth studio album, Attune, was released in 2017.[7]

Early life

The daughter of Czechoslovakia jazz trumpet musician Jiří Křipač[8] and an Australian schoolteacher, Eden, Lenka was raised in the Australian coastal town of Bega until age seven, when her family moved to Sydney. There she received her schooling, acting and music training, and started to work as a highly regarded theatre actress and later musician.[9]

Career

Lenka at the Hotel Cafe Tour at Doug Fir in Portland, Oregon

1994–2007: Early years

As a teenager, Lenka studied acting at the Australian Theatre for Young People,[10] where she trained with actress Cate Blanchett.[11] Lenka starred in the Australian ABC-TV drama series GP as Vesna Kapek in the 1990s. She also hosted Cheez TV and has guest starred in other Australian TV series, including Home and Away, Wildside, Head Start, and Spellbinder. She appeared in Australian feature films The Dish and Lost Things, as well as in theatre productions.[11] Lenka provided the vocals for two tracks on Paul Mac's 2005 album Panic Room, including its title track. She also served a member of the Australian electronic-rock crossover band Decoder Ring for two of their albums between 2004 and 2005. She then moved to California in 2007.[9]

2008–2012: Self-titled debut album

After adopting her first name as her sole artistic name, Lenka released her eponymous debut album on 24 September 2008, with "The Show" (produced by Stuart Brawley) chosen to be the first single release from the set.[12] The album peaked at number 142 on the US Billboard 200. Her song "Everything at Once" was featured in a Windows 8 ad, becoming a worldwide success.[13] Lenka creates paper art type stop-motion animated music videos for each of her singles with her husband James Gulliver Hancock, a visual artist from Australia, for a deliberately childlike effect.[8] She provided vocals on two tracks ("Addicted" and "Sunrise") on German artist Schiller's album Atemlos, released in Germany on 12 March 2010.

In 2011 Lenka released her second album Two which was inspired by her engagement and is full of romantic love songs. Despite a warm critical reception,[14] the album failed to match the success of her debut album, with Two reaching peak chart positions of 69 and 88 on the Belgian and Swiss charts respectively.[15][16] Her third album Shadows was released in 2013, following the birth of her son.

2015–present: Subsequent releases and Attune

Lenka's fourth studio album The Bright Side was released in 2015 and the most featured single in this album became "Blue Skies".[17] A remix version of the song, released on the YouTube remix channel Trap Nation, has over 30 million views on YouTube.[18] Her fifth studio album, Attune, was released in 2017 and contains the track Heal, which was created in cooperation with Australian singer and author Sally Seltmann.[7] Her most played songs on BBC are "All My Bells Are Ringing", "We Will Not Grow Old", "Everything at Once", "Don't Let Me Fall", and "Trouble Is a Friend".[19] In 2023, Lenka released her sixth studio album, Intraspectral.

Personal life

Lenka currently resides in regional New South Wales, Australia. She is married to visual artist James Gulliver Hancock.[20] She announced on 27 September 2011 that she was pregnant.[21] In March 2012, she announced on Twitter that she had given birth to a boy named Quinn. In 2016, she gave birth to her daughter, Etta.[22][23]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Alice Sally Fleming
2004 Lost Things Emily
2001 Head Start Lucy Swain 5 episodes
All Saints Erin Shanahan Can You Hear Me? (#4.19)
2000 The Dish Marie McIntyre
Murder Call Lily Aureli Last Act (#3.16)
Above the Law Dee Anne Williams
1998 Wildside Jasmine Yakabovich Episode #1.11
1997 Medivac Nikki Kershaw 3 episodes
1995–1996 G.P. Vesna Kapek 23 episodes
1995–2005 Cheez TV Host – Herself
1995–1997 Spellbinder Josie 5 episodes
1994 Home and Away Francine 'Frankie' Brooks 9 episodes

Discography

Main article: Lenka discography

References

  1. ^ "A TIME". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. ^ Andrew Leahey. "Lenka biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. ^ "It's my barfday! I am halfway to 70, yikes!! Age Ain't Nothin But A Number. xoxox". Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2014 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "iTunes – Music – Lenka". iTunes Store. 19 March 1978. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  5. ^ [1] Archived 5 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Biography. Retrieved on 5 Jan 2018.
  6. ^ "Windows 8: Lenka – Everything at Once (TV Spot) | Microsoft". Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2013 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ a b Biography by Andrew Leahey[permanent dead link] Retrieved on 16 January 2018
  8. ^ a b "Lenka | Artist". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Bio". The Official Lenka Site. Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  10. ^ "Brisbane Street Press – Lenka". Rave Magazine. 4 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Columbia Records UK " Releases " Lenka – Lenka". Columbia.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  12. ^ "The Show by Lenka Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Lenka – Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". AllMusic. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  14. ^ "Australian singer Lenka returns with sophomore album "Two"". GantDaily.com. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  15. ^ Steffen Hung. "Lenka - Two". ultratop.be. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  16. ^ Steffen Hung. "Lenka - Two". hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  17. ^ "Sony/ATV to jointly release new Lenka album | News | Music Week". musicweek.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  18. ^ Trap Nation (29 May 2015), Lenka - Blue Skies (REVOKE Remix), archived from the original on 9 June 2018, retrieved 31 October 2018
  19. ^ "Lenka - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Lenka's all grown up and married". AsiaOne. 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  21. ^ [2] Archived 4 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "Twitter / LenkaMusic: Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! I have". Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Twitter / LenkaMusic: Happy 1st birthday to my darling". Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013 – via Twitter.

External links

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