Shadows

It’s no surprise finding out that the dreamy vocals of Lenka come from a lady who used to be a children’s TV presenter.

There’s an obvious juvenile innocence to her lyrics on her third studio album, Shadows.

The record balances the tracks exploring ideas of childhood with darker songs that grapple with experiences of loss and separation.

Opening track “Nothing Here But Love” is an endearing love song, conjuring up images of languid summer days. The track showcases Lenka’s soothing and sweet vocals, which float above the rich brass notes.

“Faster With You” ironically is a slower track as Lenka contemplates a lost love. It has an unusual use of instrumentation with the glockenspiel’s ascending notes adding a lullaby quality. The lyrics sound like a child’s innocent observations of the world as she sings “Things go faster, things go faster’”in a curious manner.

Other tracks offer a more upbeat nature and are a pleasant contrast to the slower songs. “Heart To The Party”, reminiscent of Lisa Mitchell is an acoustic guitar track with its handclaps pushing forward the rhythm. Again, the lyrics are whimsical and dreamy, as she sings ‘Bring your heart to the party. I want to dance all night in the darkness darling’.

While some of the tracks sound quite similar to one another, the record sees Lenka use a diverse range of instrumentation. ‘After The Winter’ for examples features Tracy Bonham’s violin-playing, adding a soothing melody to the piece. It’s a sweet optimistic song as it contemplates the hope of spring’s arrival.

While listening to the album in one sitting may be too lengthy, it’s a perfect record for dreaming and reflecting.

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