A few hours after Lorde received the Top New Artist award at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, another female pop artist from New Zealand, Kimbra, has released a captivating new track. “90s Music” is an indescribable preview from the singer’s second studio album, “The Golden Echo,” due out in August on Warner Bros. Records.
“Everyday be listening to 90s music!” Kimbra and her echoing chorus exclaims on the track, which sounds like it’s taken every single pop hit from the 90s, threw in the kitchen sink and condensed the affair to a crisp three-and-a-half minute running time. There are chirping vocals, trap drums, powering-down electronics and, just for the heck of it, a gorgeous pop hook that apparently features Foster The People’s Mark Foster on vocals. Altogether, “90s Music” offers something unexpected, and that can always be appreciated in pop.
“It talks about sharing music as a kid and falling in love to a soundtrack of TLC, Mariah, Nirvana, and Michael Jackson, then slowly growing up and away from that period of time,” Kimbra explains in a press statement. “There is an undertone of yearning for a return to that place, but it’s also about an acceptance of time passing and that although things have changed, the music and the memories live on. Nostalgia is a common theme for me. I have a strong connection to my teenage years so I wanted to capture that boisterous playful energy with this song.”
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Kimbra released her debut album, “Vows,” in 2011, but she’s best known for her guest vocals on Gotye’s 2012 smash “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The single topped the Hot 100 chart and earned the pair a Grammy award for record of the year in 2013.
The 24-year-old singer is currently in Australia with Janelle Monae on the road, and will perform Monday night (May 19) at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.