Sony/ATV relaunches record label for Australia’s Lenka

Sony/ATV Music Publishing International is reviving its Hickory Records to release an album for one of its writers, Sydney-born, US-based Lenka.

The publisher gained Hickory Records as part of the assets when it bought out Nashville publishing company Acuff-Rose Music in 2002. Hickory had been set up in 1957 and released mostly country and folk artists including Mickey Newbury, Buffy Sainte Marie, Donovan, The Sparkles and Australia’s Frank Ifield.

In recent years it has been dormant although in 2007 and 2009 it released albums by American Idol alumni Elliott Yamin and Ruben Studdard.

Lenka was formerly with Epic Records through which she recorded albums as Lenka in 2008 and Two in 2011. Although the songs were hook-laden, they were not big sellers (Epic was going through internal problems, with six changes of head during the time she put out her first two albums). But as Billboard pointed out in its report, Lenka is a superstar in the sync world of TV, films and jingles. Sony/ATV has secured 200 placements for the 37-year-old. Her debut single The Show has been placed no less than 70 times, including Brad Pitts’ 2011 movie Moneyball and a promo for the Ugly Betty TV series.

When it came to her upcoming fourth album The Bright Side, Lenka didn’t want to sign a worldwide deal with a major label again. She preferred to work with Sony/ATV, with whom she signed after moving to America, and who says had been supportive throughout

The Bright Side will be released in North America on June 16 through Hickory with her own Skipalong Records. Globally issues will be through other distributors, including Sony Music in some countries. After playing at South By Southwest in March, next month Lenka begins a 20-city US tour.

Sony/ATV Co-President, US Danny Strick said: “Sony/ATV is excited to be taking this innovative approach with Lenka whose music has long been hugely popular with brands, TV shows and filmmakers. The new partnership perfectly illustrates how the company’s A&R and synch teams can effectively combine to create new opportunities for our songwriters.”

Lenka (daughter of Czech born jazz trumpet Jiri Kripac) emerged in Sydney electronic rock band Decoder Ring. She also studied as an actor (training with Cate Blanchett) and appeared in TV series including Home And Away and G.P. and movies as The Dish and Lost Things. She moved to Los Angeles in 2007. She now commutes between New York and Sydney.