Yesterday saw the release of Kimbra’s characteristically chipper video for ‘Miracle’, the second single lifted from her stylistically diverse, equally-as-ebullient sophomore album The Golden Echo.
Spearheaded by her effusive paean to the music on which she was raised – ’90s Music’ and its saccharine music video – The Golden Echo fizzes and crackles, wheeling skittishly in the spaces between genres, all the while revelling in the gaps between what you thought Kimbra sounded like and where she finds herself today, three years after the release of Vows. Fittingly enough, that happened to be a sheep farm in the middle of Los Angeles when we recently extracted from the delightful antipode her guide to nine essential songs from the decade that shaped her singular and surreal sonic landscape.
“When you go back and listen to the music of that time, I’ve found there’s something really bombastic – and shameless in a way – about the production of the Nineties and how it was, at times, a little bit silly or comical, but you kind of got away with it. There was a kind of playfulness to it and I think I often go back to that. Obviously there was some terrible music in the Nineties as well, but most of the stuff I really love makes you go ‘wow’.
There’s a real sense of explosiveness about the Teddy Riley style or LA Reid, or Babyface’s full-on production where they owned emotions a lot more. There are so many awesome love songs and jams about being super honest about how you feel, and that was mainstream radio, and that was really cool to see people wearing their hearts on their sleeves so much.”
A SONG FOR A CHILL SITUATION
“‘Nite And Day’ by Al B. Sure – it’s like the most cool song ever. I love it. I just kick back whenever I hear it. It’s awesome.”
FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL…
“I feel like that would be a Missy Elliot jam. Missy always gets you ready for a good night out. Is ‘Work It’ from the 90s? Or is that 2000? Anything from Supa Dupa Fly would get me ready to go. If I could only choose one, [it’d be] ‘Rain’, that one’s pretty sick. Anything by Missy is a good time.”
A SONG TO SOUNDTRACK YOUR TEEN ANGST
“‘Tomorrow’ by Silverchair. It’s perfect.”
A SONG FOR ROAD TRIPPIN’
“‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden, for sure, it’s perfect for a road trip alone or with friends.”
A SONG FOR A MEANINGFUL MOMENT
“The moment I discovered At The Drive In was pretty massive. That kind of changed me as a teenager a lot, that moment I discovered the album Relationship of Command and I’m pretty sure that was put out in the very late 90s. That was a big moment for me, when I discovered them. You could choose anything from that album. Maybe the ‘One Armed Scissor’ song – that’s a pretty meaningful moment for me. I’ll always have a lot of affection for that.”
A SONG THAT MAKES YOU FEEL NOSTALGIA
“‘Remember the Time’ by Michael Jackson. That’ll always be a key song for me. “
A LOVE SONG DEDICATION
“Can it be a song about not falling in love? There’s a song by Jane Child called ‘Don’t Wanna Fall In Love’ and that’s a song about love, but not wanting to fall in love, and it’s amazing.”
A QUINTESSENTIAL 90s JAM
“I reckon probably ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine. That’s straight up. It takes you back.”
A SONG YOU WISH YOU WROTE
“‘Thieves In The Temple’ by Prince. [Sings chorus]. It’s amazing, and it still sounds great.”
The Golden Echo is out now.
Photo by Thom Kerr, supplied
