Vows (album)

2011 studio album by Kimbra

Vows is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer Kimbra. The album was recorded between 2008 and 2011 and was released on 29 August 2011 in New Zealand, and on 2 September in Australia by Warner Bros. Records. Vows has spawned 3 charting singles, "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" and "Good Intent".

Vows opened at number three on the RIANZ Albums Chart in its first week after release, with "Settle Down" re-entering the singles chart at number 37.^[3] In Australia, the album debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart, later peaking at number four. Vows has been certified Platinum in Australia for shipment of 70,000 units and Platinum in New Zealand for sales of 15,000 units.

At the J Awards of 2011, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.^[4]

On 4 May 2012, the album was re-released with six new songs, new mixing and was mastered by Colin Leonard in Atlanta, US. It was released in Australia as Vows: Australian Tour Edition to coincide with her winter 2012 tour and included 6 previously unreleased songs.^[5] This edition of the album was released in New Zealand on 11 May 2012 as Vows: Deluxe Edition.^[6] On 22 May 2012 Vows was released to the North American market, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200. The album artwork including body art and illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo.^[7]

Writing and development

Kimbra was originally discovered by her soon-to-be manager, Mark Richardson at the age of 17. Shortly after being discovered by Mark, she moved to Melbourne, Australia to follow her path in the music industry, signing with Forum 5. Kimbra started recording and writing the album in 2008. The album's lead single Settle Down was the earliest song she had written, being when she was sixteen years old. Kimbra recorded the album at her home and other various studios throughout Australia. The songs on the record follow a theme of love, loss, romance and want.

Composition

Musically, Kimbra was heavily influenced by Björk, The Mars Volta, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright and others during the creation of Vows. She wanted the album to have an overall jazzy feel, thus trying make a record that pushes boundaries but still be considered "pop music". She found Nina Simone as a huge inspiration for the track Plain Gold Ring. Kimbra has said many times that she chose the singles for this album by visualizing music videos for each of the songs and chose the top six ideas. The genres of the album consist of indie pop, soul, jazz, and art pop. Kimbra has stated the following quote as a summary of the album's concept and overall feel: "Vows say a lot about who you are, and even more when we choose to break them."

Critical reception

Vows received generally favorable reviews, obtaining a normalised score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on reviews from 16 selected mainstream critics.^[8] Lydia Jenkin, of The New Zealand Herald's Time Out magazine, gave Vows 4/5 stars, praising Kimbra's "exciting vocal experiments on this colourful debut with impressive range".^[14] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave a positive review of the album, comparing the material to that of Björk.^[17]

Singles

• "Settle Down" was released as the album's lead single on 10 June 2010 and was re-released on 1 November 2011. The song peaked at number 37 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
• "Cameo Lover" was released as the album's second single on 29 March 2011.
• "Good Intent" was released as the album's third single on 15 August 2011. The song peaked at number 98 on the Australian Singles Chart.
• "Warrior" was released as the album's fourth single on 4 May 2012.^[19] The song appears on the Australian Tour Edition/New Zealand Deluxe Edition and the standard North American and European editions of Vows. The song peaked at number 22 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
• "Two Way Street" was released as the album's fifth single on 17 May 2012.
• "Come into My Head" was released as the album's sixth and final single, with a music video released on 20 September 2012.^[20] This song was also featured in the ending credits of the 2013 movie The Heat.

Artwork

The album artwork including body art and illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo. It consisted of Kimbra's body painted white with black body art on, and standing in front of a white background.

Track listing

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• "Home" features excerpts from the Apes & Androids recording, "Locked in a Car".

Personnel

If New Zealand deluxe edition tracks are tracks 12-17:

• Kimbra – lead vocals (all tracks), production (tracks 2–4, 8-10), mixing (tracks 3, 4, 7–9), engineering (tracks 14, 15)
• François Tétaz – production, mixing (tracks 1, 3–6, 11)
• Michael Tayler – mixing (tracks 2, 7-10), production (tracks 8, 9)
• Colin Leonard – mastering (tracks 12–17)
• Phil Tan – mixing (tracks 12, 13, 15, 16)
• Daniela Rivera – additional engineering (tracks 12, 13, 15, 16)
• Greg Kurstin – production, engineering (track 14, 15)
• M-Phazes – production (tracks 2, 7), additional production (track 1)
• Mark Foster – vocals, production, mixing (track 17)
• Jimi Maroudas – engineering (tracks 2, 10)
• Keefus Green – production (tracks 12, 16)
• Michael Harris – engineering (tracks 12, 16)
• Jesse Shatkin – engineering (track 14, 15)
• Isom Innis – production, mixing (track 17)
• Ryan Ritchie – additional programming (track 2)
• Mike Elizondo – production (track 13)
• Brent Arrowood – engineering (track 13)
• Adam Hawkins – engineering (track 13)
• Chris Sporleder – assistant engineering (track 13)
• A-Trak – production (track 17)

Charts and certifications

References

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2. "Amazon.com: Two Way Street: Kimbra: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
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4. "The J Award 2011". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
5. "VOWS Australian Tour Edition". KimbraMusic.com. 30 April 2012.
6. "VOWS Deluxe Edition in New Zealand!". KimbraMusic.com. 3 May 2012.
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8. "Vows Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
9. "Vows - Kimbra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
10. "Kimbra Vows". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
11. Carnwath, Ally (22 July 2012). "Kimbra: Vows – reviews". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
12. Adams, Cameron (1 September 2011). "Album review: Vows by Kimbra". Herald Sun. Melbourne.
13. Reid, Poppy (14 September 2011). "Album Review: Kimbra, Vows". The Music Network.
14. Jenkin, Lydia (8 September 2011). "Album Review: Kimbra, Vows". The New Zealand Herald: TimeOut. p. 18.
15. "Kimbra: Vows". PasteMagazine.com. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
16. Chiola, Enio (28 September 2011). "Kimbra: Vows". PopMatters.
17. Jody Rosen (22 May 2012). "Vows - Albums Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
18. "Slant review". Slant Magazine. 21 May 2012.
19. "iTunes - Music - Warrior - Single by Kimbra". iTunes. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
20. Kimbra - "Come into My Head" [Official Music Video]. YouTube. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
21. "Vows (Australian Tour Edition) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
22. "iTunes - Music - Vows by Kimbra". iTunes Store. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
23. "iTunes - Music - Vows by Kimbra". iTunes Store. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
24. "Vows". iTunes Store. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
25. "Vows Remixes". iTunes Store. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
26. "Kimbra - Vows". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien.
27. "Kimbra - Vows" (in Dutch). Ultratop / Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
28. "Kimbra - Vows" (in French). Ultratop / Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
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30. "Kimbra - Vows (album)". dutchchart.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
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32. "Top 20 New Zealand Albums Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)Incorporated.
33. "OLiS - Sales for the period 09.07.2012 - 15.07.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
34. "Kimbra - Vows". billboard.com.
35. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2011". ARIA. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
36. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2012". ARIA. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
37. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
38. "New Zealand album certifications – Kimbra – Vows". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 13 September 2014.