16-year-old Lenkie captures the electricity of young love in her dazzling sophomore single “Waterfall,” a soulful outpouring of heartfelt emotion, connection, and hope.
Stream: “Waterfall” – Lenkie
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I hope that when people listen to the song it offers them a piece of their memories to clutch onto as they dance beneath the waterfall.
Love never feels quite as surreal as it does the very first time you feel it. When we’re young, our experience of love comes mostly from stories, songs, and fantasies; as we grow and come into contact with it more and more, that understanding becomes more grounded in real life moments and experiences. For 16-year-old Lenkie, love is an exciting and fresh new adventure full of excitement and endless possibilities. The emerging artist captures the electricity of young love in her dazzling sophomore single “Waterfall,” a soulful outpouring of heartfelt emotion, connection, and hope.
We sat down by the waterfall
Our skins barely touch but it is enough
I watch you dance as the water falls
Could this be the night that friends become lovers
I don’t know what any of this means
All I know is I like you near me
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Waterfall,” Lenkie’s second single release (independently out October 29, 2019). A 16-year-old South African musical artist living in New York City, Lenkie introduced herself earlier this August with debut single “Flower Girls,” a sweet guitar-driven falling-for-you track with inklings of soul, folk, and other influences. Lenkie’s talent is evident through her gilted, impassioned vocals and equally evocative lyricism. She manages to say so much with so little in her music, evoking a wave of feelings in the “Waterfall” chorus as she expresses as much anticipation as she does uncertainty, doubt, hope, longing, and more:
I know it’s not love more infatuation
But you should probably know that I’ve been waiting
I don’t know much about happiness,
but this is the closest I have been
“The inspiration for ‘Waterfall’ was unrequited love,” Lenkie tells Atwood Magazine. “I had a massive crush on one of my friends at the time, but knew it would never work out. In spite of all that, I couldn’t help but daydream about what it could have been like to be with them. “Waterfall” is the manifestation of that daydream, making it an almost-love song. I wanted to create this dreamscape where we could’ve been together and there would be nothing beyond the feel of our bodies existing on the same plane. As I was writing it, I kept thinking about what it means to be with that special person and realize how magnificent it is to have someone to share the human experience with.”
She continues, “I think about ‘Waterfall’ as the continuation of the blossoming love story in ‘Flower Girls.’ The story continues as follows; we’ve left our void of a town, and all the darkness with it, and now there’s nothing left but to just enjoy each other’s company. The song became a means of catharsis as I was able to make out-of-reach feelings tangible. Because I was going through a lot at the time, dwelling on the fantasy became a sort of coping mechanism. You can see it in the lyrics, “I don’t know much about happiness, but this is the closest I have been.” It’s happy and buoyant, but also sad that my first bout of happiness was dependent on the almost-love-but-not-quite that I had with this person.”
Velvet kisses under moonlit skies
Gentle dreams with my head against your thigh
And darling I have never felt this good
Now that we’re laying here the way I thought we would
I don’t know what any of this means
All I know is I like you near me
I know it’s not love more infatuation
But you should probably know that I’ve been waiting
I don’t know much about happiness
but this is the closest I have been
Fingers intertwined
As the morning turns to night
Stars light up the sky
we’ve never felt more alive
For Lenkie, this song came from a moment of intense inner growth. “I wrote ‘Waterfall’ through a very idealistic and optimistic lens that I think comes with being young and romantically inexperienced, and looking at love through rose-colored glasses,” she shares. “Even though I’m a little older now, and the glasses don’t fit anymore, I think there is something very wholesome and nostalgic and uncorrupted about “Waterfall” that can apply in a broader sense to the ways people experience want. My aim with the song was to create a space where listeners can find comfort and warmth by reveling in what it feels like to be hopelessly infatuated with someone who is just out of reach. ‘Waterfall’ is a time capsule that takes me back to a difficult, yet eternally beautiful, point in my life that I am so much stronger for having endured. I hope that when people listen to the song it offers them a piece of their memories to clutch onto as they dance beneath the waterfall.”
My aim with the song was to create a space where listeners can find comfort and warmth by reveling in what it feels like to be hopelessly infatuated with someone who is just out of reach.
If one thing can be said of Lenkie’s music, it is that it is pure. The artist electrifies momentary emotions, magnifying them to fill our ears and hearts with universal feelings we know all too well. Lenkie’s continued introduction today affirms her status as a promising and incredibly talented singer/songwriter – one we can’t wait to hear more of in the coming months and years.
For now, stream “Waterfall” exclusively on Atwood Magazine and connect with the artist on her socials below!
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Stream: “Waterfall” – Lenkie
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