Unapologetically passionate and intimate

On her latest full-length record, A Reckoning, New Zealand-based artist Kimbra makes up for lost time since her previous effort, Primal Heart, which released in 2018. After a long period of personal and creative distress, Kimbra returns to form with a very synth-heavy, unapologetic display of emotions that she says in her interview with Billboard, she “needed to get out,” which she certainly does on this record.

Kimbra does not shy away from being vulnerable across these ten tracks, in both a bombastic and passionate fashion as well as a personal and intimate one. Kimbra certainly had a lot of emotional content to bring to the table when creating this record, which manifests in her introspective and raw lyricism across the record. From the very first title of the first track, the tone is set with “save me” introducing themes of dependency on relationships while struggling with mental health. These themes continue across the album, channeled through different lenses of sorrow, anger, self-positivity and self-doubt, addressing topics concerning being overwhelmed by life, wanting different types of relationships and wanting to save a relationship so badly that it becomes unhealthy.

Instrumentally, the album chameleons and takes the listener on an emotional journey as it fluctuates to match the energy that Kimbra brings from track to track. From track to track, the powerful 808s and stabbing synths certainly stand out, but Kimbra doesn’t let them drown her out and makes her presence known by creating vocal samples used masterfully to fill the space, blending the worlds of organic and synthetic elements.

From song to song, the listener gets a different sonic experience, from tracks like the lively “la type” that exudes glamour and mocks the bougee life with its swagger-filled backbeat, to the subdued “foolish thinking,” which presents an unprecedented meeting of indie, lo-fi and music you might hear at a jazz club. Additionally, the mixing on the album is one of its strongest selling points, making important songwriting moments even more enjoyable. On the track “personal space,” after a chorus filled with real and synthetic harmonies that make the space feel very large where Kimbra sings of her love for someone, the vocals become incredibly close as the tone shifts and the focus becomes her priority for alone time, putting the listener in her personal space as she sings about it.

By the time she makes it to the seventh track, “la type,” Kimbra is more comfortable straying from industry norms, both socially which she elaborates on in the song, as well as musically. Many tracks off of the album, including “new habit,” “the way we were” and even the aforementioned “la type” could all be shoo-ins for current radio setlists, however there’s something about each of them that defies the modern template of radio music. She makes frequent use of long instrumental outros, unusual instrumentation like marching snares on “new habit” and plunky synths to replace traditional bass and drum elements over several tracks. Even on the two tracks with rap features, the features, done by Erick the Architect and Pink Siifu respectively, end the song on their verses without repeating back to a chorus or refrain, which would be typical of radio music.