It’s easy to write a hopeful record when things are going well. It’s harder—and a lot more interesting—to write one when they’re not. On Good Days, Lenka does the latter, building an album that feels lived-in, human, and just a little bit stubborn about its optimism.
“I wanted to make a ‘classic’ album, and a classic Lenka album,” she says. “So it was a return to my sound and vibe from the first record (hopefully better!) with a healthy dose of vintage soul atmosphere.”
That “vintage soul atmosphere” isn’t just aesthetic window dressing—it’s structural. Recorded in Sydney with producer Tony Buchen, Good Days leans into live instrumentation, horns, strings, and the kind of loose, human interplay that doesn’t survive over-editing. You can hear the room in it. You can feel the takes happening in real time.
“We tried to get a kinda live house band sound so a lot was done in few takes,” Lenka explains. “We had some excellent musicians come in… it was really nice to just sit back and be wowed by them doing their thing over my songs. It was a very pleasurable experience. I absolutely love lying on that couch in the studio and listening to musicians work on songs I wrote. It’s a privilege I don’t take for granted.”
That ease almost didn’t happen. The album had an earlier life—one that collapsed before it could fully form.
“There are always challenges! I had a false start with this album last year where I was meant to be working with a producer in L.A. but it fell through at the last minute,” she says. “Thankfully I was able to pivot pretty quickly and found an excellent producer in my home town of Sydney… it was very serendipitous.”
That word—serendipitous—feels important here. Because Good Days isn’t just a sonic pivot backward; it’s a philosophical one forward. The album’s title track, which doubles as its thesis, is less a single than a kind of intention-setting.
“This song is a spell and a wish I am putting out into the world,” Lenka says of “Good Days.” “It is the soundtrack to the life I want for myself and us all. We all deserve some good days please.”
If that sounds a little mystical, that’s because it is—but it’s also grounded in something sharper: defiance.
“I am feeling a sort of defiant optimism at the moment,” she says. “It can be very very hard to stay positive but I really believe in its power!”
That push-and-pull—between softness and resolve—runs through the record. It’s there in the way the album was tracked live, chasing immediacy over perfection. It’s there in the way Lenka talks about music itself, not as escapism but as function.
“Music can be a real tonic in hard times and I am honoured if I can help people with that,” she says. “I hope this album is one that will soothe the soul and create a feeling of optimism.”
And then there’s “The Balance,” a track that quietly reframes authorship altogether.
“The song ‘The Balance’ was created with words given to me by my fans all around the world,” she explains. “So I’m really excited for people to hear that and I imagine some people recognizing their word and having a little moment whilst listening to the album…”
It’s a small idea with a big emotional payoff—listeners literally hearing themselves inside the music. Not metaphorically. Actually.
That kind of connection has always been central to Lenka’s career, which spans over two decades and includes songs that have embedded themselves into pop culture in ways that feel almost subconscious at this point. But Good Days feels less interested in legacy than in presence—in being here, now, with intention.
“I want people to know that I am so happy to have a connection with them through music,” she says. “I feel very lucky that I get to keep doing this.”
And outside of the studio, that life is refreshingly grounded.
“In my regular life I am a mum of a teen and a tween,” she adds. “It’s really special that I have songwriting and making music as my day job.”
That duality—artist and parent, performer and person—only sharpens the emotional clarity of Good Days. It’s not trying to be larger than life. It’s trying to make life feel a little larger.
Looking ahead, Lenka’s hoping to bring that feeling out of the studio and onto the road.
“The afore mentioned ‘hitting the road’ I hope,” she says. “A few more U.S. shows and an Asia tour. Hopefully next year I’ll do a few Europe shows too.”
And, maybe most tellingly:
“I have a full band show with horn section in Sydney next month so I’m really excited for that… it should be a real hoot.”
A “hoot” might be the most accurate way to describe Good Days, too—joyful, a little old-school, and completely uninterested in cynicism. In a moment where detachment is currency, Lenka is doubling down on feeling. Not blindly, but deliberately. Not naively, but stubbornly.
Good Days is out now, listen here.
Photos by Ainslie McNamara and Dave Jenkins Jr.
