Two's a charm for Lenka

It was no surprise that Lenka was an instant sensation in the Philippines three years ago. We love to listen to girls crooning softly with childlike innocence and the singer-actress from Australia was one of the best from that lot. Remember Colbie Caillat, Meryl Brainbridge and from hereabouts, Princess and Sabrina. I am sure that fans also recall Lenka’s painting that made the cover of her album. The artwork looked like something a kid might have done. Cool and sweet.

The Show was Lenka’s first big hit. It was both radio and TV friendly and was covered by a lot of so-called acoustic singers around town. Its use in the TV series Ugly Betty helped sell the song, too. It was the same case with her Live Like You’re Dying, which landed in the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack. She also made it with commercials. Her song We Will Not Grow Old was used by Oil of Olay in its TV ads.

But I really think the album would have really been a big seller even without these sales aids. Lenka was a standout in a world of screaming R&B divas and her songs, with their simple melodies and youthful sentiments, were unique and quite charming. It also helped that Lenka, who was a movie and TV star before she turned to singing, is very pretty. Other hits from Lenka were Trouble Is A Friend, Don’t Let Me Fall, Dangerous And Sweet and Everything At Once.

And now Lenka is back with her second album Two. Best thing about it is that Lenka wrote or co-wrote all of the songs. She only did three in the first one. You may think that the songs in Lenka were better, but I always see a singer’s attempt to write more of her materials as part of her growth as an artist and therefore laudable. Next, she has diversified and now has more bouncy cuts that border on dance.

Two, which reminds me of Show, makes a good opener. Roll With The Punches is the catchiest of the batch and should be a single. My Heart Skips A Beat, which has been getting a lot of airplay and has a cute video, comes next. If you want something really emotional that might bring crying jags for the broken-hearted, there are Blinded By Love, Sad Song, and The End Of The World. Also included are Here To Stay, You Will Be Mine, Shock Me Into Love, Everything’s Okay and Everything At Once.

I checked out the latest issue of Billboard Magazine to find out if Lenka made the charts. Not yet. What I found instead are interesting debut entries in this week’s Top 200 Albums chart. Lady Gaga made No. 1. A new Glee CD soundtrack made No. 4. There is a new release from the NKOTBSB. New group? Not at all. This is the greatest boy band collaboration of all time, the New Kids On The Block together with the Backstreet Boys. Wow! Will they bring in ‘N’Sync into the group next?

The American Idol Season 10 is in the list with two hit singles. Il Volo, the classical singing trio of the cutest teenaged boys ever from Italy, has conquered the U.S. of A. with its debut CD. And most of all, the new Journey album is out. That means that our very own Arnel Pineda is back in the charts with the classic rock band.

Here are the Top 20 titles: Born This Way by Lady Gaga; This Is Country Music by Brad Paisley; 21 by Adele; Glee, The Music Season Two by the Cast of Glee; Maybach Music Group Presents by Rick Ross; Now 38 by Various Artists; NKOTBSB by the New Kids On The Block and the Backstreet Boys; Torches by Foster The People; My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean; Sigh No More by Mumford & Son.

Holding Onto Strings Better by Seether; American Idol Season 10 featuring Scotty McCreery; Eclipse by Journey; Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by the Beastie Boys; Il Volo by Il Volo; The Fame by Lady Gaga; Lemonade Mouth the soundtrack by Various Artists; Love? By Jennifer Lopez; Teenage Dream by Katy Perry; and Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars.