Popra

When I walked into uni this morning, I was accosted by a good friend of mine with "Dude, I went on Youtube and looked up Kimbra and it was all girly pop stuff". 

Well, yes.

I would be lying if I said that I had no shame about my love for Kimbra. I'm young, and therefore I have a deep seated desire to be alternative. As wonderfully interesting as her music is, Kimbra is not alternative. This fact was made abundantly clear to me by the demographic of the attendees of her concerts and by the weird looks that my colleagues gave me as I was blaring her music from open-back headphones.

If one were to scroll down and read other articles I have written, you'd see that my music taste is borne from the 'alternative', or rather, music that is not 'pop'. Although Muse, the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and Led Zeppelin were always hugely popular, they've never been labelled as true 'pop'. Aficionados of this music tend to look with some slight disdain at the throes of young girls flocking to see artists like, well, Kimbra.

As much as I do have a desire to be alternative, I enjoy Kimbra immensely. I even listen to Amy Winehouse, Duffy and even some of Adele - all music that is 'pop'. The very nature of this fact, though, inspires a prejudice against musical integrity that is somewhat unwarranted. And more to the point - pop seems to be dragging itself out of the blandness and back into something a little more interesting.

Kimbra's first album, Vows, is unambiguously a pop record. The production quality, synth tracks, layered vocals, abundance of sounds (that would be hard to recreate live) and general fun air about the music betray it as such. The music has an undeniable flavour about it that appeals to the majority of young people - she came to prominence within the US after one of her tracks was featured on Grey's Anatomy and The Sims.  It's fun and emotionally is accessible enough to quite a lot of people. Such is pop.

There is a stigma, though, that detracts from the fun you can take away from this music. Pop is called pop because it is exactly that - popular. Ergo this music is always a sure money maker for your clichéd record executive who cares not for musical integrity. Two very negative conclusions about pop music are drawn from this fact: 1 - that the music is produced primarily for the purpose of money making and 2 - that it is therefore exploitative of its captive audience.

The alleged malice of 'the corporate machine' aside, the essential gist of the issue that hipsters have with pop music is that musical interestingness is cast aside for a focus on crude and catchy tunes. This point has varying levels of truth with the different examples you choose to examine.

Take your Americana country pop-rock - Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus et al. I don't believe for a minute that these artists set out to be intentionally bland. In fact there's a quiet tragedy to their misguided belief in the idea that their music is powerful, poignant and/or mind-blowing. If anything, though, these artists maintain integrity because for the most part they create music which they truly enjoy. That they are not pushed to be more creative than their peers is the fault of us, our culture and what we choose to accept and pour money into.

The trashier artists, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and Britney Spears are somewhat exploitative. The lyrics and the beat of the music are meant to appeal to a very visceral and basic part of our minds. The music of large parties and dance floors where you don't want to think, you just want to move. The ability to create this effect is a musical skill in its own right. Again, it's not that it's terrible, it's just never appealed to anything inside of me.

In a nutshell, pop music for the most part represents music that has gone far enough for us to accept it. It's only unfortunate to people with particular tastes that this is either not far enough, or is an entirely different place for them to enjoy the music.

So why my love for Kimbra?

I have a weakness

It becomes apparent in live performances how much of a musical tour-de-force this young kiwi girl is. Her contemporaries, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and others, for all their vocal talent, are never able to actualise that individuality of voice or performance in any musical way. Lady Gaga is very much a performer who relies upon the visual spectacle of her shows and her person. She is someone who must be in costume everywhere she goes. This, ultimately, is why many people are attracted to her and listen to her music.

On the other hand, Kimbra's musical offerings are laced with genuinely quite amazing vocal acrobatics and personal flair. Yes, her music like all other pop music is laced with back-up vocal tracks and effects. But those vocal tracks are all her - and they're amazing. Her vocal control and range aside, what she is able to sing, the varying texture of her voice and the energy that she very obviously puts into every performance is similarly amazing. 

Prominence and uniqueness in vocal ability is seemingly making something of a comeback in pop. The late Amy Winehouse being the prime example, and the somewhat mixed Duffy and Adele following in her wake. These artists, like Kimbra and unlike the others I've mentioned, place a strong emphasis on being able to sing in a unique and ultimately very pleasing way. Such that Amy Winehouse recorded a live cover of the motown classic "I Heard it On The Grapevine" and Adele regularly performs soul legend Sam Cooke's "That's it, I Quit, I'm moving on". These are classic, blues and soul pieces relying on their singers' command of the scale to make the song interesting.

What set's Kimbra apart, though, is that she can compose. A quick examination of the CD jacket from Vows (which, yes, I own), reveals that she is the chief songwriter for almost all her songs. This, from a 22 year old singing her debut album is quite impressive. Considering the quality and variation of the music on the record, it speaks of a musical creativity to be reckoned with. Vows is a collection of the most diverse and varied songs I've ever seen on a single CD for a fairly long time.

Yes, Kimbra is pop music. But pop music can be good, and this is it.

PS - Yes. It's been a while. Dw I'm back. Weekly.