Lenka released her fourth album on November 17th 2023, and we had the honor of reviewing one of the singles ‘Ultraviolet’. Lenka is a multi-talented Australian singer-songwriter, she’s been riding the rollercoaster of music for the past fifteen years.
Lenka wrote ‘Ultraviolet’ with Julian Hamilton from The Presets and it's a bookend to the theme of the album Instraspectral. It’s about not waiting to stay safe and simple, but to expand in life and keep all the colors shining bright. Ultraviolet is actually the color frequency higher than violet; it sits outside the rainbow. It is not visible to us and can be dangerous, but she likes this metaphor for living life. The word interspectral is something she thinks she made up but seems to be a scientific term for ‘the spectrum within’ but this is also a very introspective collection of songs from Lena.
Songwriting is Lenka’s lock and key to unpacking her own feelings. Even when Lenka found herself unable to find the words for her music, she discovered how much she relies on the process to assess her own emotions. What has become crystal clear through her most recent writing and recording journey is that music is her therapy. And for many others Lenka’s music is their therapy.
The chorus melody keeps getting stuck in my head! “I’ll live my life in ultraviolet / I’m holding out for ultraviolet / Won’t stop for less than ultraviolet” I also love the lyrics “I want the peaks and valleys / I’ll take the highs and lows / Show me the spectrum as a, more than the spectrum as a whole”.
This song just makes me want to dance in a room with colored LED lights and a disco ball. I could see it in a coming of age romcom and I’m absolutely obsessed with it. Be sure to check out Lenka’s new song ‘Ultraviolet’ wherever you listen to music.
Written by Heather Kathryn
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