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Covid no barrier to Kimbra’s creativity

The Hamilton-born alternative pop star talks about catching Covid, creating her new album and harnessing the energy that comes from anger.

Mike Mather reports.

She might not be the only prominent New Zealander to have caught Covid-19, but Kimbra would likely have been the first.

Speaking via a FaceTime link from her home in upstate New York, the Hamilton-born singersongwriter revealed her staunch advocacy for vaccination against the virus had been born of personal experience, when the first wave of the virus overwhelmed the American metropolis.

‘‘I caught the virus soon after it initially came to New York, back in March last year,’’ she says. ‘‘I knew immediately something was definitely different, because I suffered a loss of my senses of taste and smell along with feeling unwell.

‘‘I have a number of health professionals in my family, so even though Covid wasn’t really known then, we were able to talk about it, and get an understanding of what was going on.

‘‘Almost everyone I know was directly impacted by Covid, whether it was their grandmum who died, or their father, or an uncle or aunt who caught the virus.’’

Contracting Covid right before turning 30 was, she said, a very unwelcome birthday gift.

‘‘I was fully recovered after about two weeks, but with the arrival of Covid and the lockdown my life was thrown into chaos. All my plans, all my touring, it had to go by the wayside . . . I knew I had to get out of New York, so I moved upstate, to the countryside.

‘‘It was a new life. I couldn’t tour, I couldn’t travel, so what could I do? Right – it was time to make a start on album number four.’’

Having weathered a brush with Covid, did she still bother getting vaccinated and, if so, would she encourage others to follow suit?

‘‘Yes on all fronts. I’m getting my booster next week. I consider it a duty to my fellow citizens. It’s the big thing, the one simple thing that I and others can do to help out. I really think this is a moment in time when we as younger people can step up for the elderly, for the people who are immune-compromised.’’

There had been numerous other changes in her life since the pandemic hit – the end of a relationship, the start of another, and the acquisition of a new pet dog – a ring-tailed Akita that could be seen cheerfully jumping onto and off the furniture in the background of the video call.

‘‘But I’ve been mostly focused on getting my new album out . . . It’s been great. It’s been the most fun making an album that I’ve ever had. I really feel like I’m creating my best work right now.’’

It is now a different creative environment for Kimbra, who is now working as an independent artist, after having spent the best part of a decade signed to the Warner Bros record label.

‘‘I’m pretty strong-willed and if there’s something I think needs to be in the recording I’ll stand up for it. . . but it’s been a pretty interesting experience with just myself and a co-producer in the studio. No other opinions involved . . . no one throwing anything else in to muddy the waters.’’

She recently gave listeners a taste of her new direction with a demo version of a song called Different Story, which she says is ‘‘about meeting my boyfriend and learning his story. It’s about new beginnings’’.

‘‘I think [the new album] speaks to our time. It’s a time that requires music that has a deep soul. And soul is something that’s really needed right now.

‘‘But there are other emotions at play in the new recordings’’, she says.

‘‘I’ve been exploring anger.’’

What kind of anger? ‘‘Personal anger, anger that’s directed at the world at large. Ancestral anger. When that anger is channelled healthily it can be a real powerful force for positive change.’’

Kimbra Johnson’s ascension to stardom began in 2000, when as a 10-year-old she wowed guests with her singing at a Waikato Times Gold Cup racing event, before placing second in the 2004 Smokefreerockquest competition (behind a band called Incursa from St Peter’s College in Auckland) while attending Hillcrest High School.

Numerous other accomplishments followed, such as singing the New Zealand national anthem prior to an All Blacks match against Ireland in Hamilton, before her star truly began rising with the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Vows in 2011, a body of work that was followed by The Golden Echo (2014) and Primal Heart (2018).

As well as her own groundbreaking work, Kimbra has established a reputation for some remarkable collaborations – not least her contribution to Australian

‘‘I’m pretty strong-willed and if there’s something I think needs to be in the recording I’ll stand up for it . . . but it’s been a pretty interesting experience with just myself and a coproducer in the studio’’

Kimbra

artist Gotye’s chart-topping, Grammy-earning Somebody That I Used to Know, in 2011 and most recently BRUX’s recent single Take.

Will there be any further collaborations on the new album?

‘‘Yeah, there’s a couple.’’ Can you name names? ‘‘Oh, gosh, no! I’m very, very secretive about this!’’

But Kimbra is not quite so secretive when asked about who is currently bending her ear and influencing her musical direction. Baltimore rapper and producer JPEGMafia (known to his mother as Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks) ‘‘is one of two artists I’m really into at the moment’’, she says.

‘‘I’m a big fan of his. I really like how he is pushing the boundaries of rap, which is still the defining music genre of our time. The other is a singer from Dublin, RuthAnne. She has a lovely sound to her voice.’’

Unlike many New Zealanders living overseas, Kimbra ended up avoiding being exiled for much of the pandemic, as her home country closed its borders to the outside world in a bid to keep the virus out.

‘‘I was asked to work as a mentor on the Popstars show, which got me twice back into New Zealand. I spent, all up, a month in hotel quarantine. That was hard, but it was a sacrifice I was making. It was something necessary I was doing to protect my country. So I kept that in the back of my mind.

‘‘I was really impressed with the services [MIQ] had available for the people who were quarantining, they had mental health professionals and others who were looking after the people who were isolating. It was quite an amazing effort.’’

As well as conveniently allowing her to reconnect with her family in Hamilton, the opportunity of being a judge on a music competition brought back memories of her own journey to the top of the music industry ladder.

‘‘Popstars is a great way to highlight Kiwi talent. If they asked me back, I’d be down, for sure. It’s a really rewarding thing to be able to give back, to pay it forward. It’s a tough industry to break into, so if there is any way I can help someone who really deserves a bit of success, I’m there for it.’’ And success is, evidently, something that Kimbra has become quite attached to.

‘‘I’m here to stay. I’m never going away.’’

Waikato Times Weekend

en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281685438115767

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