Lenka

Raised by hippy parents on the beaches of New South Wales, the songstress Lenka received acting lessons from Cate Blanchett and initially found minor fame on Australian TV in drama series GP and soap opera Home and Away. Inspired by her jazz musician father, she turned to music as a vocalist and keyboard player in electro-dance group Decoder Ring before she moved to the States, charmed the socks off industry big-wigs at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and was snapped up Epic Records. Full of kooky, bitter-sweet pop harmonies, debut album Lenka (2008) introduced her as a burgeoning new star gaining particular recognition in South East Asia. Singles The Show and Trouble As A Friend achieved small success, but thanks to the use of her songs in the television shows Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and The Mentalist and an advert for the clothing store Old Navy, Lenka's popularity has grown and grown.