mixtape maestro

A new addition to the ever-bulging eccentric female singer-songwriter lane, New Zealand-born/ Australia-based Kimbra makes quite the first impression on debut single “Settle Down”, a desperation-soaked plea for her fantasy beau to ditch his girl with the fancy car and go steady with her so they can raise a child together named “Nebraska Jones” (“She’ll have your nose…”).

Sound a lil’ kooky? Yes, but her marrying this teenybopper daydream to jazzy-curlicued, stop-start phrasings and a whimsical arrangement that starts with nothing but “boom-buh-boom-bah” mouth-noise and handclaps before being filled out with layers of sub-Timbaland quirk-funk and cutesy tip-toe piano plinks just show that being a bit “out there” is the name of her game…a fanciful lil’ game we wouldn’t mind hearing a little more of.

Kimbra’s debut album Vows drops later this year.

Kimbra – Settle Down from Forum5 Recordings on Vimeo.

DL: “Settle Down” (alt)