When Gotye hit it big with "Somebody That I Used to Know," he didn't do it alone. The chart-conquering 2012 track also featured the New Zealand-born, Australia-based singer-songwriter Kimbra Lee Johnson, who performs professionally as simply Kimbra. Johnson initially started penning songs and playing guitar as a teenager, right as her musical ear began veering off in unusual directions. "I'd gone from R&B and soul music and suddenly being super-inspired by metal and prog-rock and experimental psychedelic music," she told Interview magazine in 2011. That versatility is reflected in August's The Golden Echo, her second record. Assisted by a medley of guests — among others, Bilal, John Legend, Muse leader Matt Bellamy, and David Longstreth from Dirty Projectors — Johnson joyfully plays around with styles and angles, never settling on a thing. "Miracle" sports the carefree pomp of a disco song, "As You Are" is a warm piano ballad, and the warped "'90s Music" is experimental electronic music. Who needs a kaleidoscope when you have Kimbra?
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