Since releasing her eponymous first album back in the yesteryear of 2008, Lenka has been working hard cooking up new tunes, working as an actress and even owning her very own label, Skipalong Records. We sat down with Lenka to give us all the deets about making some of her most iconic songs, her relationship to these tunes as well as what’s next on the horizon for her.

Hi Lenka! First up, congratulations on the 15th anniversary of your debut album, Lenka! How would you describe your current relationship to it? Thank you! You know, I've really given a lot more love and consideration to my first album due to the fact that it's just turned 15. I really wasn't really thinking about it until now – I don't know how that much time passed! It's weird to look back to that era, and when I think back to the recording session, I don't know, it just exists inside a little time bubble by itself. There's been enough time to look back and say that my style has definitely changed since then, but I still really love that record. Maybe it's because I’m older and jaded now, but it has such a childish and naïve sound that I just couldn’t replicate anymore. I was so full of hope, optimism and energy for a big adventure, which I feel like you can really hear in the album. It was an exciting time in my life.

A particular song off that album, “The Show”, was a mega-hit when it first came out. How does it feel to have a song that is still so beloved? Well, these days, it’s my kids and their friends who seem to love it the most! It's just got this really appealing, childlike sound to it. I think that's just really charming, and it's like a testament to the song’s quality. It was just this little ditty that I wrote myself and my co-writer in the space of an hour and a half on piano and guitar, and it just came out of us. I never sought to make this a huge single or anything, it just took on a life on its own. It's been on a pretty incredible journey, that song, and I love hearing people talking about discovering it through a movie, TV show or even a commercial. So, to think that this little ditty could go on that big journey is pretty cool. And I still love it. I love playing it live because the audience sings along and it's like a really fun release for everybody.

Does listening to your older music help influence your current songwriting? I suppose if I'm feeling particularly a bit fragile and unsure of my identity. I might listen to my older music to be guided, but mostly I try not to repeat myself sonically. I'm not trying to emulate my previous sound at all, since a lot of the songs on my new album are quite a departure from that sort of, acoustic and hand-clappy sound that I've done before. This record is a bit more sophisticated, with heaps of layered beats, synths and atmospheric sounds. If I was feeling really strong as an artist and really creative and inspired, it's going to sound like something new. I’m not going to try and be myself from the past.

What's the best headspace to be in to create music? When you’re obsessed with something, your head is swarmed with impracticality and you’re going through the motions. It's actually quite common for me to come up late at night, or when I'm having a quiet moment since then I can start dissecting everything in my mind.

When songwriting, do you start with lyrics or melody? Ideally, it's a combination, but I find it quite hard to fit lyrics into a melody. Whereas if you've got some words, the melody follows because the shape of the word kind of makes it easier to come up with the instrumental. But then, of course, you've got to then finesse the entire song!

You've also just released a new single, “Champion”, with fellow muso Josh Pyke. What inspired this tune? The idea of being someone's champion, like being someone’s support system, is used as a metaphor for a very solid romantic relationship, like a marriage. Josh and I have known each other for such a long time, we've both got kids around the same age and we’re in these really nice, supportive, solid and quote-on-quote “boring” marriages. There's nothing super passionate or fancy going on, but they're just really nice! I felt like that type of relationship deserved to have a little bit of an ode to it.

You’ve also just released your newest album, Intraspectral. What are its main themes? After breaking out those long COVID years, I was feeling quite frustrated and pent-up and I just had a lot of energy that needed to come out, so, I wanted to make something a bit more upbeat. I'd say the theme of this album is to embrace all this chaotic energy we have inside of us and enjoy whatever journey life takes us on.

What do you hope listeners will get out of this new album? Well, I hope that it’ll be a little bit like therapy because I do that for myself and I have been told by avid listeners of my music that it helps them get through dark times. So, I always hope that that positivity will continue for listeners, in any sort of way. I want people to think about their own lives in ways that make them feel good, and maybe throw caution to the wind to take chances and feel like they have the confidence to just get out there.