Kimbra, for those not quite familiar with up-and-coming New Zealand pop singers, is most notable for being Gotye’s collaborator on the huge, Grammy-winning hit “Somebody That I Used to Know.” But the artist is no flash in the pan: only 24, she’s currently working on the follow-up to her 2011 debut album, Vows. Now we have a cut, “90s Music,” from that still-untitled album, and it’s an impressive medley of musical styles.
It’s tough to peg Kimbra’s influences here, because the song has a bit of everything: There’s a Sleigh Bells-like electronic vocal, plenty of found-material sampling, and a rousing chorus that somehow combines 8-bit, chiptune glitches with a bubblegum pop melody and heavy guitar chords. It’s a constantly surprising track, and its ambition more than compensates for the jarring, random shifts in sound and style. Check it out below.
