Kimbra’s singular single suggests enjoyable album ahead

Deciding which single to release cannot be a decision taken lightly.

After spending painstaking months composing, writing and recording, the time comes when the musician and label need to determine what music from the completed album will gain traction with both devout fans and new listeners. The song needs to be the vow for a good album to come. It should be the combined promise to listeners of the artists’ consistent style and of their musical growth.

Kimbra, the New Zealander made famous as the featured artist in Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” has carefully presented “90s Music” for our consideration, and it is bursting with the fullness of promises.

With “The Golden Echo” being released later this summer, “90s Music” is familiar, but only because listeners will be able to revel in Kimbra’s characteristic inexplicability. This song follows Kimbra’s trend of producing a sound that are difficult to place in a genre. R&B and soul seem so stylistically distant from electropop, yet the two are
conjoined in a confident fusion in Kimbra’s portfolio.

This could not hold more true in “90s Music.” The varied passages of this song are
accented by the heavy bass and overall emphasis on the rhythm. Meanwhile, the shrill vocal chanting and synthetic elements captivate the listener while defying the pitfalls of sustained repetitions of voice, instrument and digital sound.

The vocals are also interesting, with the editing being very reminiscent of
popular radio giants. Kimbra is showing great maturity in this roll-down-your-windows-and-drive tune. Her vocals indicate her experiences gained after months of performing on the road.

This song includes collaboration with Matt Bellamy of Muse and Mark Foster of Foster the People, which also foreshadows “The Golden Echo” well.Kimbra said she has enjoyed working with many fantastic and talented figures in the music industry, as she has worked tirelessly on this coming-to-ears-near-you work.

With a more popular sound and the direct influences of peers, one might think Kimbra is not much in this equation. Stop your worrying right now; “90s Music” is undeniably a Kimbra song.

Her ability to deliver a hypnotic, soothing south in the midst of an unhinged arrangement sets her apart from anyone in the mainstream or even its tributaries.

Of course, the main unifying force of her work is its effect. If you aren’t convulsing along to this song, you should check into the nearest hospital, because you clearly no longer have a heartbeat.