Kimbra

All Music Guide:

New Zealand pop singer Kimbra is a soulful vocalist with a bent toward jazzy R&B and indie rock-influenced dance music. Born Kimbra Johnson in Hamilton, New Zealand, Kimbra first began taking guitar lessons around age 12 and was performing live by her teens. A 2007 Juice TV video award caught the attention of the Melbourne, Australia-based label Forum 5, which signed her to a recording contract. Her first single, "Settle Down," was released in 2010, the same year she guested on a track ("I Look to You") by Miami Horror. In 2011, Kimbra released her debut album, Vows, via Warner Bros., featuring the single "Settle Down." Also in 2011, she appeared on the widely popular single "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Australian-Belgian singer Gotye. A significantly reworked version of her debut album was released in the U.S. during May of 2012.

Wikipedia:

Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand recording artist based in Melbourne, Australia. On 29 August 2011, she released her debut album, Vows, which reached the top 5 in New Zealand and Australia. On 22 May 2012, the album was released in North America, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard charts. Kimbra is featured in the 2012 multi-platinum single "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye.

On 10 February 2013, she and Gotye won the Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards Show for "Somebody That I Used to Know". This achievement made her only the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award in history.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Contents

Biography[edit]

Early years[edit]

Kimbra Lee Johnson was born on 27 March 1990 and grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand. Her father, Ken Johnson, was the head doctor at the University of Waikato's student health centre, and her mother was an orthopaedic nurse. At the age of 10, Kimbra began writing songs. When she was 12, her father bought her a guitar and "after a few years of lessons, she was on stage, performing with her guitar tutors (she was never taught to sing)". Kimbra attended Hillcrest High School, competing in the national schools' musical competition Rockquest for three years running, where she was awarded second place in 2004 at the age of 14. Kimbra made her first music video, "Smile", for the children's TV show What Now. Kimbra was a member of the Hillcrest High jazz choir, Scat.

Career beginnings[edit]

Early public performances by Kimbra included singing at the Waikato Times Gold Cup race meeting in 2000 as a 10 year old and singing the New Zealand national anthem before 27,000 people at the 2002 NPC rugby union final. In 2007, after winning the Juice TV award for Best Breakthrough music video for her second single "Simply on My Lips", she came to the attention of ex-Independiente Records boss Mark Richardson (Jamiroquai, Paula Abdul) and his newly formed management company and independent label Forum 5 in Melbourne, Victoria. She signed with Richardson and relocated to Australia.

Vows (2010–present)[edit]

In June 2010, Kimbra's first single on Forum 5, "Settle Down", was released. She had started writing the track four years earlier – it was finished with François Tétaz. The music video was directed by Guy Franklin. Perez Hilton featured the track on his website citing "[i]f you like Nina Simone, Florence & The Machine and/or Bjork, then we think you will enjoy Kimbra – her music reminds us of all those fierce ladies!" On 10 December, the Australian 'indietronica' group Miami Horror released their single, "I Look to You" featuring Kimbra's vocals. Kimbra also stars in its music video, which features wide-angle and kaleidoscope shots of her in face paint and dresses walking through golden fields.

Early in 2011, Kimbra's song "Cameo Lover" was a finalist for the 2011 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition and eventually won the competition. In March she issued "Cameo Lover" as her next single, its music video was released in April and was directed by Franklin. On 15 July 2011, "Cameo Lover" won the songwriting competition, ahead of third placed song, "Somebody That I Used to Know", written by Australian musician, Gotye. On 7 June Kimbra signed to Warner Bros. Records New Zealand for distribution in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a worldwide deal for other territories with Warner Bros. Records in the US. On 5 July Kimbra sang in Gotye's single, "Somebody That I Used to Know", which was mixed by Tétaz. Tétaz had recommended Kimbra to Gotye after a 'high profile' Australian female vocalist had withdrawn from the collaboration.

On 29 August 2011, Kimbra's debut album, Vows, was released in New Zealand and 2 September in Australia. In its first week of release it charted at No. 3 in New Zealand, No. 5 in Australia and No. 14 in the US. In its second week, it rose to a peak of No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Australian producer 'M-Phazes' produced Kimbra's track "Call Me" and assisted on other tracks on Vows. Its artwork including body art and illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo. She has won the Critics' Choice Prize at the 2011 New Zealand Music Awards and Best Female Artist and Best Song (for "Cameo Lover") at the ARIA Music Awards of 2011. The US release of Vows featured new tracks not available on the Australian or New Zealand version of the album.

On 19 January 2012, "Good Intent" was played on an episode of ABC's drama Grey's Anatomy. The track also appears in the video game, The Sims 3: Pets. Also in January, Kimbra won the "One to Watch" award at the 2012 Rolling Stone Awards. Kimbra has collaborated with Mark Foster (of Foster the People) and DJ A-Trak on the track "Warrior", which was released on 2 April. On 14 April, she performed "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Gotye on Saturday Night Live.

Live band[edit]

Previous members[edit]

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Musical style and performance[edit]

Music.net.nz states that Kimbra's music delves beyond the "four chord cliché but still maintains strong hooks and catchy melodies that are sometimes unpredictable but satisfying". In an interview with American Songwriter, she listed Daniel Johns, Prince, Rufus Wainwright, Guided by Voices, Imogen Heap, Mike Patton, Michael Jackson, Minnie Riperton, and Stevie Wonder as her influences. Her musical style has been considered jazz-inspired electropop.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).