Vows (album)

Vows
Studio album by Kimbra
Released 29 August 2011
Recorded 2008–2011
Genre
Length 50:09
Label Warner Bros.
Kimbra chronology

Vows
(2011)
The Golden Echo
(2014)
Singles from Vows
  1. "Settle Down"
    Released: 10 June 2010
  2. "Cameo Lover"
    Released: 29 March 2011
  3. "Good Intent"
    Released: 15 August 2011
  4. "Warrior"
    Released: 4 May 2012
  5. "Two Way Street"
    Released: 17 May 2012[1]
  6. "Come into My Head"
    Released: 20 September 2012

Vows is the debut studio album by New Zealand recording artist Kimbra. The album was recorded between 2008 and 2011 and was released on 29 August 2011 in New Zealand, and on 2 September in Australia by Warner Bros. Records. Vows has spawned 3 charting singles, "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" and "Good Intent".

Vows charted at #3 on the RIANZ Albums Chart in its first week after release, with "Settle Down" re-entering the singles chart at #37.[2] In Australia, the album debuted at #5 on the ARIA Albums Chart, later peaking at #4. Vows has been certified Platinum in Australia for shipment of 70,000 units and Platinum in New Zealand for sales of 15,000 units.

On 4 May 2012, the album was re-released with six new songs, new mixing and was mastered by Colin Leonard in Atlanta, GA. It was released in Australia as Vows: Australian Tour Edition to coincide with her winter 2012 tour and included 6 previously unreleased songs.[3] This edition of the album was released in New Zealand on 11 May 2012 as Vows: Deluxe Edition.[4] On 22 May 2012 Vows was released to the North American market, debuting at #14 on the Billboard 200. The album artwork including body art and illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 72/100[5]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [6]
Entertainment Weekly A[7]
Filter Magazine (83%)[8]
Herald Sun [9]
Paste Magazine (7/10)[10]
PopMatters (7/10)[11]
Rolling Stone [12]
Slant Magazine [13]
The AU (8.5/10)[14]
The Guardian [15]
The Music Network (favourable)[16]
The New Zealand Herald [17]

The album received generally favorable reviews, obtaining a normalised score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on reviews from 16 selected mainstream critics.[5] Lydia Jenkin, of The New Zealand Herald's Time Out magazine, gave Vows 4/5 stars, praising Kimbra's "exciting vocal experiments on this colourful debut with impressive range".[17]

Singles

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Settle Down"  Kimbra Johnson, François TétazFrançois Tétaz, M-Phazes 4:17
2. "Cameo Lover"  Johnson, D NigroJohnson, M-Phazes, Ryan Ritchie, Jimi Maroudas, Michael Tayler 4:02
3. "Two Way Street"  Johnson, TétazTétaz 4:28
4. "Old Flame"  Johnson, TétazJohnson, Tétaz 4:27
5. "Good Intent"  Johnson, TétazTétaz 3:32
6. "Plain Gold Ring"  George StoneTétaz 4:02
7. "Call Me"  Johnson, Mark LandonM-Phazes, Johnson, Michael Tayler 4:34
8. "Limbo"  JohnsonJohnson, Tayler 3:51
9. "Wandering Limbs" (featuring Sam Lawrence)JohnsonJohnson, Tayler 5:26
10. "Withdraw"  JohnsonJohnson, Jimi Maroudas, Tayler 4:06
11. "The Build Up"  Johnson, TétazTétaz 5:01
12. "Somebody Please" (hidden track after 1:00 of silence)Johnson  2:20
Total length:
50:09

Notes

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Charts (2011–12) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[21] 4
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[22] 135
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[23] 186
Canadian Albums Chart[24] 24
Dutch Albums Chart[25] 95
New Zealand Albums Chart[26] 3
New Zealand NZ Artists Albums Chart[27] 1
Polish Albums Chart[28] 23
US Billboard 200[29] 14

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
Australian Albums Chart[30] 39
Chart (2012) Position
Australian Albums Chart[31] 50

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[32] Platinum 70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33] Platinum 15,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. "Amazon.com: Two Way Street: Kimbra: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  2. RIANZ CHART 1789 05 September 2011
  3. "VOWS Australian Tour Edition". KimbraMusic.com. KimbraMusic.com. 30 April 2012. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  4. "VOWS Deluxe Edition In New Zealand!". KimbraMusic.com. KimbraMusic.com. 3 May 2012. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Vows Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  6. "Vows - Kimbra : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". All Music. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  7. "Kimbra Vows". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  8. "Vos Review - June 2012". Filter Magazine. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  9. Adams, Cameron (1 September 2011). "Album review: Vows by Kimbra". Herald Sun (Melbourne: Herald and Weekly Times/News Limited).
  10. "Kimbra: Vows". PasteMagazine.com. 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  11. Chiola, Enio (28 September 2011). "Kimbra: Vows". PopMatters.
  12. Jody Rosen (22 May 2012). "Vows - Albums Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  13. "Slant review".
  14. Fuamoli, Sosefina (24 August 2011). "Kimbra - Vows (2011 LP)". the AU review. Heath Media & the AU review.
  15. Carnwath, Ally (22 July 2012). "Kimbra: Vows - reviews". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  16. Reid, Poppy (14 September 2011). "Album Review: Kimbra, Vows". The Music Network. Peer Group Media.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Jenkin, Lydia (8 September 2011). "Album Review: Kimbra, Vows". The New Zealand Herald: TimeOut (APN Holdings NZ). p. 18.
  18. "iTunes - Music - Warrior - Single by Kimbra". iTunes. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  19. Kimbra - "Come Into My Head" [Official Music Video]. YouTube. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  20. Vows (Booklet). Kimbra. Warner Bros. Records Inc. (Cat no. 9362495476). 2011.
  21. "Kimbra - Vows". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien.
  22. "Kimbra - Vows" (in Dutch). Ultratop / Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  23. "Kimbra - Vows" (in French). Ultratop / Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  24. "Kimbra - Vows". billboard.com. Canoe.ca.
  25. "Kimbra - Vows (album)". dutchchart.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  26. "Kimbra - Vows". charts.org.nz/. Hung Medien.
  27. "Top 20 New Zealand Albums Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)Incorporated.
  28. "OLiS - Sales for the period 09.07.2012 - 15.07.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  29. "Kimbra - Vows". billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media.
  30. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2011". ARIA. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  31. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2012". ARIA. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  33. "New Zealand album certifications – Kimbra – Vows". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 September 2014.