The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:31 PM PST It's impossible to resist the infectious charm of New Zealand-born songstress Kimbra. When she was 16, New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra came to Singapore to sing as part of her school jazz choir. They performed free shows in schools and malls. Come Jan 26, the singer, now 22, will be back, this time as a bona fide star playing at a much bigger stage – the Laneway music festival at Gardens By The Bay in Singapore. "I really enjoyed my time in Singapore. I look forward to coming back," she says in a telephone interview from Melbourne, Australia, where she is now based. Reminiscing about her time as a teen here, she adds: "We were in Singapore for 10 days or so. It was a bit random – we played a whole lot of different gigs. Some were in shopping malls, some were for charity events. But what was more exciting was the travel rather than the singing. It was an excuse for us to travel, really." She has come a long way since her choir singing days. Late last year, she was one of the big winners at the 2012 New Zealand Music Awards, taking home accolades such as Album of the Year, Best Female Solo Artist and Best Pop Album, all on the strength of her debut album, Vows. More importantly, the singer – born Kimbra Lee Johnson – found international fame, thanks to her guest vocals on Somebody That I Used To Know by Australian-Belgian singer Gotye, an indie tune that went viral and ended up being one of the biggest mainstream hits of the past year. Her work on Vows is making a commercial impact too – it debuted at No.14 on the mainstream Billboard charts when it was released in the American market in May last year. It is all happening rather quickly for her but Kimbra, who is single, is intent on not letting success go to her head: "It's a pretty good achievement. I didn't expect Vows to have that kind of commercial weight. I didn't write it for that reason." Getting chart placement "isn't really all that big a deal to me," she adds. "The stuff that means a lot to me is the connection with the people who come along to the show and hearing how they respond to the music. "But still, a lot of first albums can go under the radar so I feel very blessed that this was able to have a voice so early on in my career." The daughter of a doctor and an orthopaedic nurse, Kimbra started writing songs at the age of 10. Her parents played a big role in her musical development, sending her for guitar and vocal lessons. At 17, she moved to Melbourne to study French at university but her study plans were sidelined by a recording contract offer. She took the plunge and released two singles, Settle Down (2010) and Cameo Lover (2011), before finally releasing Vows in August 2011. It was while she was finishing Vows that she got the call from Gotye to contribute her voice to a song that he was working on, Somebody That I Used To Know. The song's huge global success meant that more people know her for that one song rather than for her own music – but it is not something that keeps her up at night. "It's been such an amazing experience to be part of that song, to see the reaction that people had to it, not only how they've been emotionally moved by the song but also the shifting consciousness that it seems to have created in pop music," she says. "I think we're coming to a time when people are craving something a little bit different and it certainly didn't sound like anything else in the charts. "It's exciting for an artist like me who enjoys pop but wants to do it in a slightly different way that has layers and complexity and some intrigue to it. It doesn't give everything away in the first minute and I think that's what made that song exciting to people." Asked about her penchant for body paint – she appears in the nude, with only artwork covering her skin in both the Somebody video as well as on the cover of Vows – she says that she feels very strongly about "treating the body like a canvas." "It says a lot about honesty and vulnerability. I guess it's honesty when you put artwork directly on yourself. Plus, for the Vows cover, all of the inkwork that was done on the body was relevant to the lyrics somewhat." With only one album in the bag, Kimbra acknowledges that she is only at the beginning of her music career, and that fans can expect her music to develop even further in future albums. "I plan to continue to stay honest in my work and continue to follow my instincts and evolve. All of my favourite artists have continued to be progressive and followed their instincts and their guts to wherever that leads them. "I want to make music that has depth and has layers and continues to be timeless – something you can put on in years to come and still be receiving inspiration and new elements down the line. To me, that's art and music." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network Laneway Festival 2013's lineup features Kimbra, Alt-J, Bat For Lashes, Cloud Nothings, Divine Fits, Goyte, Nicolas Jaar, Japandroids, Kings Of Convenience, Of Monsters & Men, Polica, Real Estate, Tame Impala and Yeasayer. The festival takes place at Gardens By The Bay in Singapore on Jan 26. For more information, go to sistic.com.sg. |
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