''A Reckoning'' is the fourth studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two 2 ...

, and the first under the label Inertia and IAS having previously been signed with the label

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. It was released on 27 January 2023. The album was promoted with the singles "Save Me", "Replay!" and "Foolish Thinking". Kimbra released a deluxe version of ''A Reckoning'' on 8 December 2023 with three brand new songs, “Different Story”, “Possession” & “The Robin”.

Background

Kimbra began working on her fourth album 'A Reckoning' in 2018, co-producing it with

Ryan Lott Ryan Lott (born January 24, 1979) is an American musician. He is the only founding member of the experimental trio Son Lux. He is also a member of Sisyphus and has scored the soundtracks for a number of films, most notably ''Everything Everywher ...

Son Lux Son Lux is an American experimental band. Originally the solo project and moniker of founding member Ryan Lott, the band's first three albums, '' At War with Walls & Mazes'', '' We Are Rising'' and '' Lanterns'', shaped the band's unique soun ...

. When asked about the delay between 2018's 'Primal Heart' and 'A Reckoning' in an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', Kimbra explained "I went through a stage of really struggling to write. Maybe it was because I was struggling to articulate what I was feeling."

Critical reception

''A Reckoning'' was met with positive reception from music critics. ''AllMusic'' gave the album 4/5 stars, commenting "Kimbra's use of hip-hop and electronic music on ''A Reckoning'' fortifies her resilience". ''The Daily Telegraph'' also gave the album 4/5 stars, stating "Chunky piano chords pierce slithering, ghostly synths on the opening track, 'Save Me'. It is at once beautiful and malevolent, evolving into a further nine tracks exploring the nuances of cinematic and intimate reckonings". ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' gave a moderately positive rating of 3/5 stars for the album, stating "Kimbra has returned with ''A Reckoning'' - an album that smartly pares back the excesses of its predecessors and highlights the nuances of both her voice and her songwriting, without turning its back on formal and aesthetic weirdness", but later stated 'LA Type' and 'GLT', on which Kimbra raps, break the flow of the otherwise chic, streamlined album." ''Sputnikmusic'' believed that the experimentation was a positive aspect, and gave the album a 7.4/10, commenting "She took the liberty to branch out in whatever direction she felt needed and it actually gave the album an odd sense of cohesion."

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Musicians *

– lead vocals *

– string arrangements (tracks 1, 10); vocals, piano (8) *

Rob Moose Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connec ...

– viola, violin, string arrangements (1, 8) * Taylor Graves – synthesizer (6), keyboards (7) * Jacob Bergson – additional

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(6) * Spencer Zahn – electric bass (7) *

Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ...

– drums (7) Technical * Twerk – mastering * Jon Castelli – mixing * Eli Crews – vocal

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(1–3, 5, 7–9) * Spencer Zahn – vocal engineering (6, 10) * John Rooney – engineering (7)

References

2023 albums Kimbra albums {{2020s-album-stub