The Golden Echo

2014 studio album by Kimbra
The Golden Echo
Studio album by
Kimbra
Released15 August 2014 (2014-08-15)
Genre
Length60:03
Label
  • Warner Bros.
ProducerKeefus Ciancia, Rich Costey (exec.), Taylor Graves, John Hill, Kimbra Johnson, Major Dudes, Mystery Skulls, M-Phazes, Al Shux, Surahn Sidhu, Dave Tozer, PolySlyme
Kimbra chronology
Vows
(2011) 		The Golden Echo
(2014) 		Primal Heart
(2018)
Singles from The Golden Echo
  1. "90s Music"
    Released: 19 May 2014[2]
  2. "Miracle"
    Released: 24 July 2014[3]
  3. "Goldmine"
    Released: 15 July 2015[4]

The Golden Echo is the second studio album by New Zealand recording artist Kimbra, released by Warner Bros. Records in the United States on 19 August 2014.

Background

Kimbra was inspired by Greek mythology for the album and spent time in a small sheep farm in the middle of Los Angeles. Kimbra went to the farm the day after the 2013 Grammys. "I'd been caught up with all the Grammy and Gotye stuff happening, and the touring, the constant affirmation— or praise, or criticism, or self-reflection— everywhere," she said. "You get wrapped up in it. Then here I was chilling with a bunch of sheep. And they don't give a crap who you are. You're not special to them. You spend time with them and there's this beautiful kind of harmony of how everything works in that environment. It was a really great space to create."[5]

Cover

The cover and all the photographs of The Golden Echo's booklet were shot by Thom Kerr, who also directed the music video for "Miracle".[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Consequence of SoundB−[9]
Exclaim!8/10[10]
Los Angeles Times[11]
Paste7/10[12]
Pitchfork4.3/10[13]
PopMatters[14]
Rolling Stone Australia[15]
Spin7/10[16]

The Golden Echo received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album obtained a normalised score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from 12 selected mainstream critics.[7]

Track listing

Standard editionNo.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length1."Teen Heat"4:442."90s Music"
  • Johnson
  • Mark Foster
  • Timon Martin
  • Stephen McQuinn
  • Matt Morris
  • Kimbra
  • Costey
  • Major Dudes
3:363."Carolina"
  • Kimbra
  • Ciancia
4:184."Goldmine"
4:405."Miracle"
  • Johnson
  • Stephen Bruner
  • Johns
  • Kimbra
  • Costey
  • Mystery Skulls[b]
4:496."Rescue Him"
  • Johnson
  • Surahn Sidhu
  • Kimbra
  • Sidhu
5:347."Madhouse"
  • Kimbra
  • Costey
  • M-Phazes[b]
4:048."Everlovin' Ya" (featuring Bilal)
  • Johnson
  • Taylor Graves
  • Kimbra
  • Costey[a]
  • Graves
4:449."As You Are"
  • Johnson
  • Johns
  • Kimbra
  • Costey[a]
5:2110."Love in High Places"
  • Kimbra
  • Ciancia
5:1511."Nobody But You"
5:2212."Waltz Me to the Grave"
  • Johnson
  • PolySlyme
  • Kimbra
  • Costey[a]
  • PolySlyme
7:30Total length:60:03
The Golden Echo — Vinyl edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."The Vanity Fair" (hidden track)
  • Johnson
  • Johns
3:52
Total length:63:55
The Golden Echo — Deluxe edition[17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Slum Love"
  • Johnson
  • PolySlyme
  • Kimbra
  • Costey
5:04
14."Sugar Lies"
  • Kimbra
4:10
15."The Magic Hour"
  • Johnson
  • White
  • Kimbra
4:31
Total length:73:49

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Golden Echo[18]

  • Kimbra Johnson - vocals (all tracks); production (all tracks)
  • Matt Bellamy - guitar (track 2)
  • Bilal - featured artist
  • Mario Borgatta - assistant
  • Ron Bruner - writer (track 7)
  • Thundercat - writer (tracks 5, 7)
  • Keefus Ciancia - production (track 3)
  • Martin Cooke - engineer
  • Rich Costey - production (tracks 2, 4-5, 7-9, 11-12); executive producer; mixing
  • Zachary Dawes - writer (track 3)
  • Mark Foster - writer (track 2)
  • Nicolas Fournier - engineer
  • Fraser T. Smith - writer (track 4)
  • Taylor Graves - writer and production (track 8)
  • Nick Haussling - A&R
  • Bo Hill - engineer
  • John Hill - engineer
  • Daniel Johns - writer (tracks 1, 5, 9)
  • Thom Kerr - artwork and photography
  • John Legend - writer (track 11)
  • Bob Ludwig - mastering
  • M-Phazes - production (track 5)
  • Major Dudes - production (track 2)
  • Timon Martin - writer (track 2)
  • Sonny J. Mason - writer, drums (track 10)
  • Stephen McQuinn - writer (track 2)
  • Matt Morris - writer (tracks 2, 10)
  • Tyler Parkford - writer (track 3)
  • Kaveh Rastegar - writer (track 10)
  • John "JR" Robinson - drums
  • Omar Rodríguez-López - guitar (track 13)[19]
  • Michael Shuman - writer (track 3)
  • Surahn "Sid" Sidhu - writing and production (track 6)
  • Alex Tenta - design and layout
  • Dave Tozer - writing and production (track 11)
  • Lenny Waronker - A&R
  • Ben Weinman - guitar (track 14)[20]
  • Joel Whitley - writer (track 7)
  • PolySlyme - writing and production (track 12)

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22] 5
US Billboard 200[23] 43

References

  1. ^ "Review: Kimbra - The Golden Echo - Sputnikmusic". Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Amazon.com: 90s Music: Kimbra: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Amazon.com: Miracle: Kimbra: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  4. ^ Johnson, Kimbra (15 July 2015). "Goldmine - Kimbra | The Official Website Videos". Kimbramusic.com. Warner Bros. Records. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Kimbra". urbanscapes.com.my. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  6. ^ "The Golden Echo - Kimbra - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for The Golden Echo by Kimbra". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  8. ^ "The Golden Echo - Kimbra". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Kimbra – The Golden Echo". Consequence of Sound. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Kimbra - The Golden Echo • Pop & Rock Reviews • exclaim.ca". Exclaim!. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Review: Kimbra cooks up virtual layer cake of sound - LA Times". Los Angeles Times. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Kimbra: The Golden Echo Review :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Paste Magazine. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Kimbra: The Golden Echo - Album Reviews - Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Kimbra: The Golden Echo - PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Rolling Stone Australia — Kimbra - The Golden Echo". Rolling Stone Australia. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Kimbra, 'The Golden Echo' Review". Spin. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Amazon.com - The Golden Echo (Deluxe Version) by Kimbra". Amazon. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  18. ^ The Golden Echo (CD liner notes). Kimbra. Warner Bros. Records. 2014.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Crandell, Evan (17 October 2014). "Kimbra's Shining Moment: A Review of "The Golden Echo"". 24ourmusic.net. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  20. ^ "Kimbra Talks Collaborating with The Dillinger Escape Plan". Geargods.net. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Kimbra – The Golden Echo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  22. ^ "Charts.nz – Kimbra – The Golden Echo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  23. ^ "Kimbra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
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