Kimbra 'Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined'

('Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined' EP cover art)

    在2018年回歸並以獨特方式將自己打進流行音樂圈的紐西蘭籍歌手，Kimbra於四月發行'Primal Heart'之後，緊接著宣佈正在進行姊妹專輯的延續EP。'Songs from Primal Heart'一樣由金貝拉掌握大權，不管是在迷你專輯的呈現方向，抑或是選曲，她在12首單曲之中選出了三首以及另一原本在錄製'Primal Heart'的捨棄曲"Hi Def Distance Romance"(據傳只收錄在加拿大盤中)。

    將電子音樂抽離後的金貝拉，確實令人好奇她會怎麼詮釋自己的歌，其實早在發行專輯前就在巡演慢慢公開的Kimbra，其實沒有太多的時間去重新整理歌曲的邏輯，不過也就是在前期這樣的緊湊，才在之後讓她有時間重新審視這些單曲的可能性。

    在重新編製專輯的過程裏，製作人Lars Horntveth在這張迷你EP中是個重要角色，帶著爵士樂的深厚背景，"Black Sky"從流行走出，在爵士裏參雜實驗性電子的元素，鋼琴與吉他在副歌的搭配令人意外，而Kimbra的獨特嗓音則在過濾後純粹的音樂中展現了聲線的細膩。

    真誠的情歌，"Hi Def Distance Romance"這首歌以弦樂為主軸去呈現綿長的情感，金貝拉於遠距離的戀愛中，在科技與人性中反省，時差所形成的距離比實際的遠近更讓人難受，來自紐約的爵士演奏家Spencer Zahn利用低音提琴的撥奏使得蕭瑟感及戲劇性變重。

    以原音呈現音樂的確在技術上以及市場同樣都有著限制，Kimbra省略了重新詮釋整張'Primal Heart'的繁重，反而以小編制以及四曲的選擇避免聽覺疲累，在這樣小範圍的製作裏，讓聽眾與歌手間的距離更接近，也更忠實地讓歌詞原意表述出來，無論是以一位歌手或是製作人的角度來看，金貝拉都在2018年立下里程碑。


  Making pop music in her own way, the New Zealand based musician Kimbra had released her  album 'Primal Heart' this April, following her latest record, the "Settle Down" singer announced that she was working on a sequel EP. On this reimagined EP, Kimbra teamed up with a little group of friends to finish four songs ("Black Sky", "Everybody Knows", "The Good War" and "Hi Def Distance Romance") chosen from 'Primal Heart'. 

  Stripped-back all the electronic beats, it makes us wondering "How will Kimbra remake these songs?"  'Primal Heart' comes at a transitional point during her tour, rush in the making, but it's a good thing that she finally has time to perform them  in a different way.

  On reimagining, producer Lars Horntveth is the key point, the Norwegian composer with big background of jazz music, "Black Sky" is the game-changing track on this EP, different from the original pop version, mixing up experimental electronica elements into jazz, Kimbra's unique vocal has fully shown her R&B techniques.

  A genuine ballad, "Hi Def Distance Romance"is made of strings, in a long distance relationship, Kimbra burts out with emotions when the love is running out. Accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn from New York on double-bass, Johnson's voice expands warm and husky.

  With natural limits to the acoustic format, Kimbra omitted the reinterpretation of whole album, instead with a small arrangement to avoid being boring. In such a small group of production, the distance between audience and the singer gets closer and more intimate; Kimbra impresses us deeply as an artist and co-producer in 2018.