Kimbra “Vows”

Word seems to be bouncing around that Kimbra represents a new mold of popular music, a front-row contender for a shot at the world title. For the first time, a nobody from small-town New Zealand could become a pop superstar. What is this shit, Rocky I?

But I’m serious – it feels like industry types, critics and the adoring public have their collective eyes pointed in Kimbra’s direction. Manifest Destiny, zeitgeist, Gotta Catch Em All, whatever. Sender: Kimbra Johnson.

Born 1990, she’s the first of a generation in NZ to make it to this level of international recognition – Vows debuted at the top spot on iTunes, 28,000 fans on Facebook, a comprehensive entry on Wikipedia and Lily Allen and Perez Hilton in her fanclub. I don’t wanna downplay this.

But Kimbra still has a lot to prove to the world, and this first step could make either foot or money meet mouth. I don’t need to say any more on ‘Cameo Lover’ (beyond my growing dissatisfaction at a warped comparison I’d made (it was ‘99 Luftballoons’, not ‘Good Vibrations’)). A particularly divisive track record is all you need to get people talking – I can’t tell if filler track ‘Good Intent’ was released as a single to fulfill some evil genius marketing plan, but my instincts tell me it won’t win people as easily as ‘Cameo Lover’. It will, however, open mouths – and the wallets will follow.

Nostalgia twists and turns, for better or worse, throughout this album. ‘Two Way Street’ is what you would have once heard in Martika or Madonna, had they taken Brian Eno’s drug of love. ‘Old Flame’ sounds kind of like early Christina Aguilera – Kimbra’s got her references all marked out, but her own touches tend to get buried beneath them. After all, it’s kind of hard to see where you’re going when you’re walking backwards.

The Top 40 relishes in the familiar, as we all know, but it hates being patronised. And there’s a difference – there’s rockabilly or grunge or metal taking the best parts from other genres and making it new, and there’s your mum’s Pat Boone records. The answer isn’t always clear, and it’s hard to tell for Vows. For mainstream pop music, it’s certainly different to what we’re used to – but it’s made of the same stuff. At times, it works in Kimbra’s favour, while the faint crackle of vinyl between tracks is a disappointing reminder of the word ‘trite’. If op-shop soundtrack music isn’t already frustratingly omnipresent for you, you’d better start running now.

But, I mean, whatever – these songs are “catchy as hell”, and if Kimbra has timed this correctly, retro will skydive its way back onto the exploding bullet train of popular music and shuffle 8ths will become the next unprecedented hit of the modern dancefloor. When you’ve got an image this saintly, a secret service taskforce of industry types, and – let’s face it – a good face, you can practically summon whatever you want the next era of music to be.

Meanwhile, I’m taking Vows for what it is, and I think there’s some great music beneath it all. Every song has at least one payoff moment, so there’s always a good reason to listen. Every disjointed ending and misplaced starting point is a weirdly refreshing step out of convention – and I think that’s what answers the question of what this album is. It’s pop trying not to be pop. Of course, it will always be pop, but the great side-effect is that whenever this happens, exceptional (though misguided) music is formed. And I won’t shy from saying that there are plenty of exceptional moments on Vows. It would be unnatural for music borne out of such talent and ambition to be a lazy effort. Naïve, perhaps, but nothing is less bold on Vows for trying.

I can tell you this: ‘Cameo Lover’ is still one of the best local singles I’ve ever heard. Kimbra is one of those personalities that pull off good looks, good hooks, and record label contracts wherever she walks. New Zealand’s music industry, recognising this, is Princess Leia, begging Kimbra-Wan for help. But Kimbra’s command of The Force transcends small minds and small realms. She is destined to take over the world, with only her ambition in tow. [B+]