New Zealand pop singer Kimbra will never rise above the multi-platinum success and Grammy Award for her feature on Gotye’s 2011 “Somebody That I Used To Know.” On her 2nd LP, The Golden Echo, she continues the same style of indie pop from what we’ve seen in her last album, bright pop synths and catchy hooks. Unfortunately, she never reaches the levels of anything as catchy or exciting as on her feature. Some tracks aren’t as tasteful or groovy and end up as uninspired noise.
The opener of this LP, “Teen Heat,” has an explosive and energetic synth chorus but aside from that most of this track falls flat. This leads into the next track, “90s music,” where Kimbra continues to wobble around in recycled synth pop with little inspiration or new territory covered here.
Track 5, “Miracle,” is as groovy as this project gets, but it’s nothing compared to her 2010 collaboration with Miami Horror, “I Look To You.” The song features some soul infusion and the Prince-like influence we’ve grown to expect from Kimbra.
As far as lyrics go, Kimbra is circling around the common core themes of pop and some generic lyrics.
Despite being presented as a very visually flamboyant project from the album artworks and single music video releases, she doesn’t seem to be doing anything new that breaks down the barriers of traditional pop on here.
Recommended if you like: Miami Horror, Sia, BROODS, FKA Twigs, Janelle Monae
Recommended tracks: “Miracle,” “Teen Heat,” “Carolina,” and “As You Are”
Reviewed by Raymond Holtzman on October 16, 2014