2AP is the musical duo of Jarek and Lenka, two distinct voices and perspectives who came together to create something uniquely their own. Their music explores connection, relationships, emotion and the often-unexpected tension between two very different worlds.
With their latest single, “Sweet Harmony”, 2AP embrace that contrast: Lenka’s delicate, expressive vocals meet Jarek’s more driving, punk-inspired energy, creating a song that moves between softness and intensity. The track is the latest chapter in a project that has grown over several years and continues to evolve with every release.
Ahead of their forthcoming album Let’s Talk About Love, due in 2027, we caught up with 2AP to talk about the long journey behind “Sweet Harmony”, the creative friction that shapes their music, and why, for them, love is ultimately at the heart of everything.
1. “Sweet Harmony” took almost four years to reach its final form. What kept bringing you back to the song, and how did it change between the first guitar riff and the finished recording?
Jarek: The original version was much more complex, with an extra verse and bridge. Even though we simplified it during rehearsals, we eventually set it aside for about three years. But the core melody and message just stayed stuck in our heads. When we returned to it, I wanted to try something unexpected—pairing Lenka’s gentle vocal style with a lighter, punk-inspired energy, almost like Alice in Wonderland singing punk. So we kept the main riff, tweaked a few chord progressions for tension, and recorded my chorus vocal in unison with Lenka to give it more punch.
Lenka: To be honest, I always wanted to keep playing and singing the original version! Jarek felt it was too complicated for listeners, but for both of us, the song’s heart just refused to be forgotten. Leaving it untouched for three years was actually the best thing that could have happened—time naturally stripped away the unnecessary clutter and showed us what truly mattered.
I was initially a bit resistant to Jarek’s punchier production, but I eventually saw what he was going for. I’ve always felt a deep friction at the center of this song: the verses feel smooth and floating, while the chorus carries a sense of struggle and anger. The final version built on that exact contrast—setting my delicate vocal against a much more driving, gritty instrumentation.
2. There’s a fascinating tension at the centre of 2AP: two very different voices, two perspectives, and often two different emotional worlds. How does that contrast shape the way you write and arrange your songs?
Jarek: I think it’s very inspiring. When I’m writing a song, I have more possibilities for vocal progression and, above all, for playing with the different colours of our voices. For instance, our upcoming single “So Am I,” which we’re preparing for the end of October, is a duet. I wrote the lyrics for the first verse, Lenka wrote her part for the second, and then we mix both perspectives together in the third verse. So this one is much more of a duet compared to “Sweet Harmony.”
Every song brings new possibilities for how we can work with our vocals, and we often search for the right place and role for each voice, as I mentioned earlier about my vocal part in the chorus of “Sweet Harmony.” The culmination of this approach is probably the title track of our new album, “Let’s Talk About Love” — so there’s definitely something to look forward to. 🙂 It won’t be released until February or March 2027; we’re still working out the exact date.
And personally, I sometimes see it like this: I am the ground and Lenka is the sky. So there will also be songs where Lenka is almost completely alone with her thoughts, and others where I’m almost on my own. 🙂
Lenka: Our voices and our worlds are very different, but they aren’t strangers to each other. There is a balance of attraction and repulsion between us, and our songs are born right from the sparks of that friction. What’s fascinating is that both of us lived for decades without writing a single song—we were strictly interpreters. It was only through our collaboration that we found the impulse to finally step beyond interpreting music and start creating it.
3. Your music often turns very ordinary experiences and observations into something cinematic and emotionally expansive. Where do you usually find the stories and images that become 2AP songs?
Jarek: In emotions, in everyday things around me, and in little situations that somehow stay with me. “Real Little Wild” is a good example. When my younger son was about eight months old, he couldn’t even walk yet. He was crawling around, came over to where I was sitting, and suddenly started playing arpeggios on a ukulele that was lying on the carpet. 🙂 I tuned it to D major so I could join his little concert, and that moment eventually became the inspiration for “Real Little Wild.”
And we also find inspiration in the tension between our two worlds — the male and female perspectives. 🙂 That contrast often gives us stories, emotions and images to work with.
Lenka: My inspiration always stems from emotion—love and pain, joy and sadness experienced in relationships. I don’t look for external stories as much as I focus on what happens beneath the surface between people. When that emotional truth is there, you can build something deeply powerful out of complete simplicity. The exact same words can sound banal or carry incredible weight—it all depends on what’s living inside them.
4. “Sweet Harmony” is ultimately about stepping away from overthinking and learning to be present. Do you think making music has changed the way you deal with your own doubts, fears, or inner noise?
Jarek: Definitely. Making music helps me think more deeply about my feelings — where they come from and why I feel the way I do.
Lenka: For me, creating music has truly turned into a personal therapy. It’s an outlet for uncomfortable emotions that prevents me from dumping them on whoever happens to be around. It helps me navigate my feelings instead of endlessly wandering through a labyrinth of overthinking. Beyond that, music creates a space where I can attune to someone else on a deeper level.
5. You’ve described 2AP as a project built around connection, relationships and hope, while your forthcoming album Let’s Talk About Love explores those ideas from several different angles. What does “love” mean to 2AP today, and has that meaning changed while making the album?
Jarek: What does love mean to us? That’s a good question. 🙂 It means a lot to me, but I think we’re getting slightly ahead of ourselves here, because so far we’ve released only two singles that are setting the stage for songs about falling deeply in love, experiencing love itself, and hope for the future. There’s definitely a lot for listeners to look forward to, although I’m not sure how much I can reveal at this point. 🙂
Making this album has also helped me see many things from a different perspective — but I think I should leave some of that story for later. 🙂
Lenka: 2AP originally stands for Two Alien Planets. That’s how we began—like two distinct planets whose orbits crossed and then pulled apart. In our early work, we sang a lot about “relationships,” but the word “love” was practically taboo. While making this second album, though, we realized that talking about relationships without mentioning love is like describing orbits of planets without ever mentioning the Sun. Love—with a capital L—is the ultimate source. It lies at the root of every human complexity, including the sad, painful, and uncomfortable moments. The source is always Love, so stop closing our eyes to it and just talk about it.
6. After several years of developing 2AP, what do you understand about each other creatively now that you didn’t when you first began, and what do you think you still haven’t figured out about working together?
Jarek: I think there are still many things we haven’t figured out about each other creatively, and for me at least, that gives me hope that we definitely still have a lot to write. 🙂 There’s also a constant learning process. It keeps pushing me forward and gives me new perspectives on creating music, whether individually or together.
To be a little more specific, I’m naturally quite a minimalist. In the past, I tended to express myself more through the music itself, using very few words or sometimes none at all, rather than through lyrics. Now, with the new songs I’m writing, I’m also, thanks to Lenka, trying to bring more storytelling into them, while also working more with space and groove. But now I’m already getting ahead of myself and moving into the next album, which we already have in progress. 🙂
Lenka: I’ve learned to trust Jarek’s musical vision, even when his ideas sound completely unexpected to me at first—like the punk feel for “Sweet Harmony”! I know now that his instincts usually lead us somewhere really interesting. As for what we haven’t figured out yet? I often wonder what discoveries are still waiting for us. For instance, we definitely haven’t discovered how to write a song together without ending up in an argument! 😀
