BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//artsboston.org//NONSGML iCalcreator 2.6// VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:Calendar of artsboston.org X-WR-CALDESC:In this calendar you will find information about events that y ou did save X-WR-TIMEZONE:US/Pacific BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20130522T051112CEST-4542V16JCj@artsboston.org DTSTAMP:20130522T031112Z CATEGORIES:Personal CLASS:EVENT DESCRIPTION:Event Name: Lenka\nEvent Url: http://www.artsboston.org/event/d etail/441314135/Lenka\nEvent Date Begin: 2011-06-29\nEvent Date End: 2011- 06-29\n\nust before Lenka steps on stage to begin recording her video for her first single &ldquo\;The Show\,&rdquo\; she makes a promise: &ldquo\;I want to write more songs about being in love. On album two you'll hear mo re of those.&rdquo\;\nIt was 2008\, and at the time\, her self-titled debu t album had yet to drop and there was a lot yet to come for the petite Aus tralian singer\, including a move to America\, live appearances on Conan O 'Brien and other late-night talk shows\, and the celebratory moment when h er album hit No. 3 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Oh&hellip\;and there was also an engagement to James Gulliver Hancock\, a visual artist with wh om she's shared many creative collaborations. So\, this year\, she makes g ood on her word and returns with Two\, an album full of love songs. But\, as you'll hear\, not all of Two's songs were all spun from lazy\, romantic mornings. That's because\, thanks to the success of her debut\, Lenka spe nt most of 2009 touring the world. She played intimate clubs and large fes tivals like Bumbershoot and Summer Sonic. And\, while the stage wasn't new territory for her &ndash\; she'd previously fronted the indie band Decode r Ring and had acted professionally in her teenage years &ndash\; travelin g to 21 countries in ten months was eye-opening. &ldquo\;It was intense. L ife is just so concentrated when you're on the road. One day feels like a month.&rdquo\; She continues\, &ldquo\;But\, I've always been a little bit of a gypsy\, so I do love it. I really wanted to get more out of it than just touring as a musician. I wanted to connect with people and almost pre tend that I was just traveling\, like backpacking or something to experien ce the different cultures.&rdquo\; She was impressed by many of the countr ies she was seeing for the first time on that tour\, like Denmark\, Japan\ , and Thailand\, but it was her experience in Vietnam that really blew her away. &ldquo\;It's rare for an artist to get the opportunity to perform i n Vietnam\, so I felt quite honored and lucky.&rdquo\;\nThe incredible exp eriences just kept coming\, and between them\, Lenka had to find a way to process all of those new sights\, sounds\, and emotions. She turned to wha t had gotten her there in the first place. &ldquo\;I was writing as a way to process. That's the wonderful thing about being a songwriter. You have some way to put out all of the emotions and reactions to what you're seein g. I probably wrote 35 songs when working on this album.&rdquo\; Some of t hat processing included dealing with the toll of being away from almost ev eryone she knew and adjusting to the move from Sydney to Los Angeles and f rom Los Angeles to Brooklyn\, and inspired tracks like the determined &ldq uo\;Roll with the Punches&rdquo\; and the plucky &ldquo\;Sad Song.&rdquo\; Regarding the latter\, she says\, &ldquo\;I had been indulging in the dep ression\, but I was just emerging out of it and I used that song to snap m yself out of it. I think we just all fall and stumble constantly and usual ly when I write the song is when I'm getting up again.&rdquo\; But\, not a ll of those growing pains were bad. &ldquo\;I think I grew up quite a lot last year. I learned so much about the world and myself as an artist and f elt like I came into my own a little bit more as a woman as well. I'm less timid now and a bit more sassy\, a bit more gutsy.&rdquo\; That inner str ength guided her in the decision to travel to London to record a portion o f Two with David Kosten (Bat for Lashes). She says\, &ldquo\;I had spent s o much of the year traveling\, I wanted to give it a bit of an internation al sound and London is such a big music city.&rdquo\; And while she admits that the physical location doesn't really matter once you're inside a dar k studio\, recording in the The Kinks' studio was unique. &ldquo\;There we re all these vibes in there and tourists would come by. Some were shaking they were so excited to see it. But\, for us\, it was cool because all The Kinks' original instruments were in there and I got to use their mellotro n from the 1970s.&rdquo\;\nShe also had the courage to take her album in a different direction than her last\, one that is more distinctly electroni c. That's evident from the moment it opens with the bright\, dance-friendl y song &ldquo\;Two&rdquo\; that she co-wrote with British artist Eg White (he also worked on the more emotionally-intense &ldquo\;Here to Stay&rdquo \;)\, but even more so on songs like &ldquo\;Heart Skips a Beat.&rdquo\; F or that song\, which was inspired by a time she told a doctor that her hea rt occasionally skips a beat and he suggested maybe she was just in love\, she turned to musician/producer Guy Sigsworth who had previously worked w ith Bjö\;rk on some of her most well-known tracks. Lenka admits\, &ldq uo\;I never really liked electronic music when I was a teenager. Bjö\; rk was the first artist that made me realize it wasn't illegal to have a c omputer beat in a song and that it can still be beautiful and emotional.&r dquo\; One track quickly turned into three and she asked him to take the r eins on two more love songs: &ldquo\;Shock Me into Love&rdquo\; and &ldquo \;You Will Be Mine.&rdquo\;\nBut\, no matter what the subject\, the songs\ , be they about love or coming into her own\, reveal a braver Lenka\, even more ready to take on the world.\nThis event is all ages.\n\nStart time: Doors: 7:30pm DTSTART:20110629T000000 DTEND:20110629T000000 LOCATION: SUMMARY:Lenka TRANSP:TRANSPARENT END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR