Kimbra “Primal Heart”
Primal Heart is the third album from Kimbra released by Warner Music in late April 2018. Kimbra who hails from New Zealand has been living in New York for the past few years creating this great album of various styles of rap, funk, soul and electro-pop.
The unifying elements of Primal Heart are Kimbra’s soulful singing style and the lyrics which focus on her career, the music industry and her life and how she wants to change it. Kimbra stated in an email to her fans prior to release that the meaning of the album is to transcend our limitations in ways we never imagined possible and to evolve beyond our past self. The majority of her recent concerts have her playing 10 out of the 12 songs from this excellent album with only a smattering of her previous songs so she is certainly embracing moving on with her life.
In a favourite song early on in the album co-produced by Skrillex called Top Of The World, Kimbra sings about making a breakthrough in her career. She sings “Need a break, then I’ll take to the top of the world” The super catchy Like They Do On TV uses saxophone which always reminds me of the 80s.
The album starts at a breakneck speed of Electro pop and then slows down for the funky Recovery and then Human where she is still waiting for her big break “Til the bright lights come for me“.
In Right Direction she states “They say all roads lead back to home, but that ain’t where I wanna go or where I wanna be”
Kimbra’s voice really shines on the slower Version of Me with a beautiful string arrangement and the lyrics “I swear that I’m trying, If there’s a better version of me, Would you stay for the person I’ll be?” which again is a focus of change in her life.
The production values on this album are wonderful and the producer John Congleton has worked with many artists over the years including St Vincent, Goldfrapp, Blondie and David Byrne. I look forward to hearing this superb album live one day.
Album Review by Rick De Pizzol