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Live Local Music

An Album with Soul: Kimbra’s Vows

Posted by Brittany Barth on 09/12 at 12:18 AM

If you’re looking for a singer with soul, allow me to introduce you to Kimbra.

While a featured artist on several singles such as Miami Horror’s “I Look to You” and As Tall As Lion’s “Asleep in the Sea”, Kimbra exploded onto the scene when featured on Gotye’s wildly successful “Somebody That I Used To Know.

She released her first album Vows in 2011, establishing herself as a musical force to be reckoned with. The album is like no other, providing a wide array of genres and subject matter.

Kimbra’s music gives you everything you want and then some.

Her lyrics illuminate the anguish of unrequited love, the exasperating thrill of part-time lovers, and the importance of one’s own individuality. Her music is an experience, intermixing blues, soul and pop all mastered with a 1930s flair.

Everything on the album is done meticulously. Every song transforms as you listen to it. The album transforms as you listen to it. You move with it. You feel it. You become part of the story she is telling. It’s like nothing you’ve ever heard or experienced.

It’s the most heart that’s been put into music in a very long time.

The most deeply felt song on the album, the most heart-wrenching, the song that is a depiction of a pain we have all at one time felt and hope to forget, is entitled “Old Flame.” Kimbra’s voice is one of the aspects that make the song what it is. Her voice is distinct. While her singing is often ethereal, she manages to plunge into the deepest part of her, conjuring up every emotion buried in her body, producing a sound within her that is both haunting and beautiful. It is with that voice that she recites to her audience the anguish of a love that has died but remains with her still, a love that haunts her, a love she cannot shake.

When you hear it, you can feel your heart break. The power of the song is intimidating.

Not all of the songs on her album will make you feel like reaching for a box of Kleenex, however. “Call Me”, the seventh track on the album is by far my favorite. It’s undeniable catchy and, without question, the song most likely to be stuck in your head after hearing it. There is an air of sexiness about it and you can’t help but feel good while listening to it (I have had one too many solo-dance sessions to this song) It’s also a perfect song to recover with after she’s just broken your heart with “Old Flame.”

The album also includes several bonus tracks (and who doesn’t love an added bonus?) such as “Limbo” and “Warrior” which features Mark Foster of Foster the People and A-Trak. Not only is the song completely awesome but the video (literally) kicks ass.  Watch it on YouTube and you’ll see why.

An album like Vows has to be experienced because it is something words (even mine) cannot do it justice. Kimbra has created an album that is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It is inspiring and distinctive.  It’s an album that’s will inevitably be one of your favorites.

Check it out on amazon.com: