Kimbra steps out of her bubble

(© Tom Kerr)

Kimbra, Gotye’s angry “ex” on “Somebody that I Used to Know”, is coming to present her own record. And she sounds much more eclectic and adventurous than her Belgian-Australian colleague.

Even though she never listens to the radio, she couldn’t possible escape it over the past year. “That song was literally everywhere,” the 22-year-old singer tells us from her hotel room in the Canadian city Montreal, where she is supporting the international release of her debut, Vows. “When I was eating a kebab in Berlin with a friend of mine, the Tiësto remix was playing in the background. And when I was shopping in Istanbul, it was blaring down the shopping street. You can’t imagine how strange it is to be on the other side of the world and hear a song that you recorded in your bedroom!” You can take “the other side of the world” quite literally, because Kimbra is from New Zealand. After appearing on children’s TV and the local rock circuit, she was offered a record contract at seventeen. The eclectic result is called Vows. It is bursting with vocal gymnastics and has become a bestseller in Australasia. In the wake of “Somebody that I Used to Know”, it is now time to conquer the rest of the world.

Is it true that when you were eleven, you got to sing during a home match of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s rugby team?
Kimbra: Yes, I sang the national anthem of New Zealand in front of 27,000 rugby fans. I was extremely nervous, especially because I had to sing in two languages. But I think it helped me to get over my nerves more easily later on. What’s learned in the cradle lasts till the tomb, right? I have always had an enthusiastic temperament; I am always up for discovering new things. A new world was revealed to me when I discovered that in addition to mainstream pop music, there is also punk-rock and metal and electronic music.

You recently twittered: “The priority of your feelings is to be safe and comfortable, but the divine priority for your life is to risk and grow. Which will it be?” Listening to your debut, it sounds like you have made your choice.
Kimbra: Yes, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and to take risks. Now that I have been given the opportunity to present my music outside New Zealand and Australia, I consciously dived in the deep end. I stepped out of my bubble, and it was incredibly enriching. I hate making music according to a particular formula. An fearless attitude like that only benefits the music. I like to be unpredictable, and to stretch my voice in every possible direction. It’s only when you realise that your voice can’t only express one emotion, but a whole range of emotions, that it becomes an interesting instrument to work with. In fact, one kind of voice is not nearly enough to express all my 
moods. [laughs]
It is true that you often skip from one atmosphere to another and you really use your voice as an instrument. Do you take care of your voice differently?
Kimbra: I warm up all my muscles before I go on stage, and not only my hands and my head. I helps to relax your whole body because the projection and the colour you give your notes comes from your limbs. Actually, I warm up like an athlete who stretches and does push-ups. It opens up my range of possibilities. I don’t just want my singing to be easy on the ears, I want to convey emotion.

Although Vows did extremely well in your homeland, you still wanted to record a new version for the international market. Was that really necessary?
Kimbra: I don’t know if it was really necessary, but it was certainly more interesting for everybody concerned. I went to the US to work with various producers. I worked with famous names like Greg Kurstin (The Flaming Lips, Foster the People) and Mike Elizondo (Dr Dre, Fiona Apple), but also with the drummer of The Mars Volta and other great musicians. It kept me focused and allowed me to evolve. Initially, I just thought we would add an extra bonus track to the CD, but after all the sessions, I had seven new songs, and each of them represented a new Kimbra era. So we put those on the album too. Kimbra, the 22-year-old artist, is no longer the 17-year-old debutante. In any case, fans who want to hear the old songs and versions can always buy the original record.
Visually, everything looks very attractive too. Do you still buy most of your clothes at vintage and second hand shops?
Kimbra: Yes I do. After music, clothing is my biggest hobby. It gives my life extra colour. I just like buying cute dresses, even if they are slightly too big. We don’t have a sewing machine on the tour bus, but I just work with safety pins or ask friends to help me with the sewing.

Last year, Gotye told me that he had first considered asking his girlfriend to sing the role you would play on “Somebody that I Used to Know”, but that ultimately, he thought it would be too risky to sing a dark song about breaking up with someone you are madly in love with.
Kimbra: Yes, I understand that. [grins] He did well to choose me for the part!
“My girlfriend could never have given me that cold stare,” he added.
Kimbra: [laughs] I suspect that is true. It might be a little bit too close to home. This way, we were able to channel our emotions much more freely from our own experience, and then let them clash during the recording sessions and in the music video. But afterwards, we were simply able to go our own separate ways. That made it more threatening.

Kimbra • 4/9, 20.00, €17/20, Botanique, Koningsstraat 236 rue Royale, Sint-Joost-ten-Node/Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 02-218.37.32, info@botanique.be, www.botanique.be