The Fantastic Playfulness in Kimbra’s Skewed Pop
New Zealand pop star Kimbra plays within the confines of pop music, bending and skewing and tone painting, according to her needs. Now based here in New York, Kimbra first made waves in 2011 when she teamed up with Gotye on his international hit “Somebody That I Used to Know.” We know her now as a Grammy winning creator of arty and experimental pop, unafraid to take risks and address macro issues from the world around, as well as more introspective internal reckonings.
On how she crafts this skewed pop, Kimbra says that “Improvisation is crucial to my process. It keeps me on the ledge. If I feel danger, if I feel a sense of the possible stumble, there’s something really powerful in that. Then watching yourself triumph.” Using her voice and a voice modulator, Kimbra wrestles with her inner demons over piano lines and carefully-chosen chords, as she plays some new songs from 'A Reckoning', in intimate arrangements, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik
Set list: "Save Me", "Foolish Thinking", "The Way We Were"
Watch "Save Me":
Watch "Foolish Thinking":
Watch "The Way We Were":
