Kimbra
Kimbra | |
|---|---|
 Kimbra on stage at the 2011 Moomba Festival. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kimbra Johnson Zottola |
| Born | 27 March 1990 |
| Origin | Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Genres | Soul, alternative, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Forum 5, Warner Bros. Records |
| Website | Kimbra's official MySpace |
Kimbra Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer/songwriter. Her debut album Vows charted in New Zealand and Australia and the single "Somebody That I Used to Know" featuring her vocals topped the charts in several countries.
Biography
Early years
Kimbra Johnson was born in Hamilton, New Zealand and remained there for the majority of her childhood. She attended Hillcrest High School, rising to prominence as a musician after competing in the national schools' competition Rockquest for three years running, where she was awarded second place in 2004 at age 14. Her upbringing was not particularly influenced by music, but at the age of 10 Kimbra began writing songs. Kimbra's father Ken was the head doctor at the University of Waikato's student health centre and her mother was a nurse. Ken bought Kimbra a guitar when she was 12 years old, and "after a few years of lessons, she was on stage, performing with her guitar tutor (she was never taught to sing)".[1]
Kimbra made her first music video on the New Zealand children's TV show What Now. The video was entitled "Smile".
Career beginnings
Early public performances by Kimbra included singing at the Waikato Times Gold Cup race meeting in 2000 as a ten year-old, and the national anthem at age twelve before 27,000 people at the Auckland vs Waikato NPC rugby final.
After winning the Juice TV award for best breakthrough music video for her second single "Simply on My Lips" in 2007, Kimbra, then aged seventeen, came to the attention of ex-Independiente Records boss Mark Richardson and his newly-formed management company/independent label Forum 5 in Melbourne, whom she signed with and relocated to Australia to begin work on her debut record.
Vows (2010–present)
Kimbra's first single "Settle Down" was released in 2010 with the music video directed by Guy Franklin. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton featured the track on his website citing "If 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!"[2]
On 7 June 2011 Kimbra signed to Warner Bros. Records New Zealand for distribution in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a worldwide deal for all other territories with Warner Bros. Records in the US.[3]
Kimbra's debut album Vows was released on 29 August in New Zealand and 2 September in Australia. In its first week of release the album charted at #3 in New Zealand and #5 in Australia. In its second week of release the album rose to a peak of #4 on the ARIA Charts. Notable Australian producer 'M-Phazes' produced Kimbra's track 'Call me' and lent additional hand to many of the other tracks on the 'Vows' album.
Kimbra and the Australian artist Gotye teamed up for the single "Somebody That I Used to Know". The single was a commercial success charting nationally and internationally. The song reached #1 in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States. The single has currently been certified 8x Platinum (560,000+ units sold) in Australia.
The success of the collaboration resulted in Kimbra's singles "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" and "Good Intent" to chart within the Australian Top 100 Singles Chart.
She has won the New Zealand Critics' Choice awards 2011.[4] She also has won for Best Female Artist and Best Song "Somebody That I Used to Know" at the 2011 ARIA awards.[5]
The US release of Vows will feature a few new tracks not available on the Australian/New Zealand version of the album.[6]
On 19 January, "Good Intent" was played on a episode of ABC's drama Grey's Anatomy. This same song also features in the popular video game, The Sims 3: Pets.
The album artwork consisting of body painting and booklet illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo.
Recently, Kimbra has collaborated with Mark Foster (of Foster the People) and DJ A-Trak on the track "Warrior". The track was released on April 2nd.
On 14 April 2012 she performed "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Gotye on SNL
Live band
- Fagan Wilcox – samples/synth/bass/vocals (2009–present)
- Timon Martin – guitar/vocals (2009–present)
- Stevie McQuinn – drums (2010–present)
- Ben Davey – keyboards/vocals (2010–present)
Previous members
- Stan Bicknell – drums (2009–2010)
- Joe Cope (2009)
Musical style and performance
Kimbra's musical style harbours "smoky soul, flights of dazzling invention and intricate layers of deeply felt emotion". Comparisons have been drawn with Architecture in Helsinki, Amy Winehouse and Björk. Her songs are heavily thematic and laced with "quirky" jazz chords. Kimbra's music pertains beyond the "four chord cliché but still mantains [sic] strong hooks and catchy melodies that are sometimes unpredictable but satisfying".[7]
Discography
Studio albums
| Album title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | NZ | |||
| Vows |
|
4 | 3 | |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | NZ | |||
| 2005 | "Deep for You" | — | — | non-album singles |
| 2007 | "Simply on My Lips" | — | — | |
| 2010 | "Settle Down"[10] | — | 37 | Vows |
| 2011 | "Cameo Lover"[11] | — | — | |
| "Good Intent" | 98 | — | ||
As a featured artist
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications (thresholds) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | AUT | BEL (FLA) | CAN | GER | IRE | NL | NZ | SWI | UK | US | ||||
| 2009 | "Asleep In The Sea" (As Tall As Lions featuring Kimbra) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | You Can't Take It with You | |
| 2010 | "I Look to You" (Miami Horror featuring Kimbra)[12] |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Illumination | |
| 2011 | "Somebody That I Used to Know" (Gotye featuring Kimbra)[10][13] |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Making Mirrors | |
References
- ^ Woulfe, C. (2010, 31 October). Unchained Melodies. Sunday Star Times, pp16–18.
- ^ "Watch & Listen: Like Ice!". PerezHilton.com. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Kimbra Signs Worldwide Deal With Warner Bros. Records". Marketwire.com. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ Bridget Jones. "Kimbra wins Critics' Choice Award 2011". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Kimbra wins Aussie music award". Television New Zealand. 28 November 2011.
- ^ "At Sydney airport..." Facebook. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Kimbra - New Zealand Musicians & Bands". Muzic.net.nz. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesALBUMaccreds2012.htm
- ^ http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/albums
- ^ a b "The Official New Zealand Music Chart: Chart 1789" (Rianz). 5 September 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Cameo Lover - Single by Kimbra". Itunes.apple.com. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ Lake, Limbo (30 July 2010). "iTunes - Music - I Look to You (feat. Kimbra) - Single by Miami Horror". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Single by Gotye". Itunes.apple.com. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2011 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (11 February 2012). "Certifications (Searchable Database)". RIANZ. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Ultratop - Gold + Platinum Singles - 2011". ultratop. 28 January 2012.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". IFPI. 31 January 2012.