Great Sounds Great; Bad Sounds Bad: Kimbra ‘Good Intent’

Every week, a panel of writers for The Corner will focus on a bunch of recently released local singles and grade them. We call it Great Sounds Great; Bad Sounds Bad. Read through the panelists thoughts below and let us know what you think of the song in the comments section.

[YouTube / iTunes]

[Grade: 5.9]

Phyllis Gabor: PHWOAR. MATE. Seriously though, I don’t know if Kimbra suits this moody fake-noir stuff as much as she does savvy quirk-pop (ew sorry, but true). She’s got that confidence like she knows her shit on every subject, but her lyrics are not even making sense to me right now. Sometimes it’s cool to be like real young and feel like you’re an old soul who is very wise and wordy about relationships and stuff, but I think she can either leave that shit up to Adele who does it way more accurately and eloquently or rack up some more irl points first. [4]

Matthew Plunkett: Don’t know why I keep hearing Bessie Smith and Nina Simone mentioned in relation to Kimbra’s music. Nothing that heavyweight here. It feels appropriate to discuss this song in connection with the video. The noirish Don Draper video is slick and even includes 30 seconds at the start without music to show how much money has been spent. The tune is bright cabaret fluff and is catchy for sure, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that you’re just a small drop of oil seeping out of the cogs in a giant Kimbra robot machine. This may be completely unfair but that doesn’t change the fact that the experience ends up feeling a little hollow. Instead of the excitement of listening to an original and bold new talent, I feel the onset of a seriously bold new campaign, TV advertising, awards and banal predictability. [6]

Timothy Marsh: ‘Good Intent’ is a track polished neatly with a high-end handkerchief. The sophisticated nature of such a suave tune leaves little to fault and gives great disbelief that such a sound is capable of coming from New Zealand. Its distinctive taste and smooth class instantly transports listeners, endeavoring an elegance that’s rarely established within our humble music scene. [8]

Matt Monk: Thank God for Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire inspiring everything from fashion to music videos, right? Kimbra manages to get some props from me, even though usually I don’t really care for solo-female stuff. This throwback has a pretty prominent jazz feel which usually is downright hilarious. But since it’s Kimbra taking the spotlight and not some Saxman Crothers, it works. She’s capable of better than this. The girl’s got some pipes on her, and if she keeps playing the game right, she could be one of our best exports. Although this song isn’t one of hers. [6]

Eamonn Marra: This is the first pop music from New Zealand that I have ever seen that could have easily come from anywhere else. I’m not meaning this in a negative way, like when a rock band tries to emulate AC/DC or Guns N’ Roses and ends up with nothing original about it – it’s more that this has the ability to compete against any of the huge pop artists out there. This has nice production and it’s catchy (and she is attractive). As far as pop music goes I can’t really find anything wrong with it except the video has a minute of nothing before any music happens. [9]

Luke Jacobs: The mix and production of this track pushes the vocal in your face, the other instrumentation feel a mere frame to the vocal. For someone who has a great voice this is not a mistake. However since she is also trying pretty hard to present herself a ‘legit’ artist with big ideas and not flash in the pan singer song-writer this is a lost opportunity. Despite being not the most adventurous song but there still somethings to like with repeated listens. There are some nice vocal multi-tracking touches in parts, the percussion is strong and marries well with the vocal. One aspect I have to admit I found particularly disappointing was the lack of a pay-off. I was waiting for was some form of climax in the song, it felt like something was building toward something. The percussion became more layered, the harmonies more layered and then…nothing. We get a dirty sounding guitar near the end but because the crux is the vocal it came across as a bridge to a build-up. Then the song ends. I haven’t made up my mind on Kimbra as an artist, I would have to hear more. In terms of this song though it needed more danger, maybe she needs to hook up with Ed Cake or something. [6]

Dan Taipua: Maybe thrust a single hand outwards and pan it around. If that doesn’t work, try seventeen more times.

Lots of love,
Xtina

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