KIMBRA – THE GOLDEN ECHO

You have to feel sorry for New Zealand’s Kimbra. She featured on one of the biggest songs of all time – Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know – then was all but forgotten with the rise of her younger country-mate, Lorde. It looks like Kimbra’s not going to take that lying down. With an album inspired by her love of ’90s music (one track is even called ’90s Music!) this might just give her that solo breakthrough she deserves. While Kimbra has a tendency to be overly fussy with her songs – pop needs to be simple and straightforward and not too arty (Lady Gaga, take note!) – there’s plenty to like here, especially house-y Miracle and funky Madhouse.