Australian singer-songwriter Lenka will be previewing songs from her upcoming album, Two, in four appearances at SXSW and a short U.S tour leading up to the album’s release. The West Coast run – which also features Greg Laswell – launches April 1st at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop and will include a show at Los Angeles’ legendary Troubadour on April 13th. See below for itinerary. Lenka will perform on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Wednesday, April 20th.
Two, set for release on April 19th by Epic Records, is the follow-up to Lenka’s self-titled debut album, which entered at #3 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart in late 2008 and contained “The Show,” which became a No. 1 single at radio in several countries. Lenka recorded much of Two with producer David Kosten (Bat for Lashes), working at Ray Davies’ Konk Studios in North London. She also recorded with Eg White (Adele), Sunny Levine (Pete Yorn, Happy Mondays), Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley) and Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Seal).
Sigsworth produced three songs, including the lead single, “Heart Skips a Beat.” Lenka gives fans a surrealistic look at the anatomy of love in the video for “Heart Skips a Beat” which will premiere shortly. The clip was lensed by Sarah Chatfield (Lily Allen, Craig David).
“Everything At Once,” another track from Two, was recently heard on “Grey’s Anatomy” and is tapped by Disney for a DVD trailer promoting its upcoming blockbuster films while “Here To Stay” was used in a recent episode of “Nikita.”
Lenka’s debut album was widely licensed for television, including such shows as “Ugly Betty,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Parenthood,” “Easy A,” “90210” and “The Hills,” the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, advertising campaigns for Old Navy, Coca-Cola, Apple and Nordstrom plus the trailers for Marley & Me and Confessions of a Shopaholic. Spin marveled at her “cashmere soft voice” and VH1 named her a “You Oughta Know” artist. She toured extensively behind her debut album, hitting 21 countries in 10 months, and appearing on numerous televisions shows – including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,””Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Upcoming tour dates are as follows:
SXSW:
3/17Austin, TXThe Roxy Theatre Presents…Austinrox at Rusty Spurs 9pm
3/18Austin, TXTexas Tornado at Red Eye Fly 4:15pm
3/19Austin, TXMaggie Maes3:30 pm
3/19Austin, TXThe Tap Room-Hotel Café Showcase9:00 pm
Headlining Tour with Greg Laswell:
4/1San Francisco, CARickshaw Stop
4/2Arcata, CADepot/Humboldt State University
4/3Portland, ORHawthorne Theater
4/4Seattle, WACrocodile Café
4/7Denver, COMarquis Theatre
4/8Salt Lake City, UTIn The Venue
4/10Fresno, CAFulton 56
4/12Costa Mesa, CADetroit Bar
4/13Los Angeles, CATroubadour
4/14San Diego, CAAnthology
