Off-Season Bonus: Kimbra

Photo by Spencer Ostrander

Welcome to the off-season, a series of talks I’ll be releasing on the road to season 6. Today’s episode is about an act I deeply respect and admire, largely due to their tenacity as both an artist and human being. Across four albums, Kimbra has perpetually challenged audiences across the world, with a clear love for experimenting with sonics and chasing the perfect melody. Her latest offering, A Reckoning, is easily her most personal body of work yet, but describing it as such really is an understatement. 

Lyrically, the songs of the album explore the hardest thing to reckon with: oneself. Kimbra doesn’t pull any punches towards describing what a mental head fuck the last few years have been, and almost all the songs have this candor towards owning one’s flaws, shortcomings, and the unexpected strength we can obtain from allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. 

Hand on heart, this episode is a great example of what I aim to do here on this podcast: where I try to remind us all that art is both the door and the bridge to help us better understand each other as human beings. Yes, we do talk about the making of A Reckoning, but in a lot of ways, this episode is one big therapy session we’re letting you in on.

Kimbra is currently touring the states and will be coming to a city near you. She’s an electrifying performer and come on, you deserve a fun night out. You can find full tour dates at kimbramusic.com and yes, I will be at the Webster Hall show on February 16th.

Kimbra’s also started a podcast series called Playing With Fire, which is also fantastic and features talks with incredible creatives like Jacob Collier, Mitski, Dawn Richard, and more. Definitely make a note to check that out here.

After you hear the episode, be sure to check out Kimbra's track replay! on the official New Exchange Playlist. Also, be sure to follow Kimbra on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.