Vows (album)

Vows
Studio album by Kimbra
Released	29 August 2011
Recorded	2008–2011
Genre	Indie pop soul jazz art pop[1]
Length	50:09
Label	Warner Bros.
Kimbra chronology
Vows (2011) The Golden Echo (2014)
Singles from Vows
"Settle Down" Released: 10 June 2010 "Cameo Lover" Released: 29 March 2011 "Good Intent" Released: 15 August 2011 "Warrior" Released: 4 May 2012 "Two Way Street" Released: 17 May 2012[2] "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.^[3] 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.^[4] This edition of the album was released in New Zealand on 11 May 2012 as Vows: Deluxe Edition.^[5] 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.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	A[9]
Filter Magazine	(83%)[10]
Herald Sun	[11]
Paste Magazine	(7/10)[12]
PopMatters	(7/10)[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Slant Magazine	[15]
The AU	(8.5/10)[16]
The Guardian	[17]
The Music Network	(favourable)[18]
The New Zealand Herald	[19]

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.^[7] 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".^[19] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave a positive review of the album, comparing the material to those of Björk.^[14]

Singles

• "Settle Down" was released as the album's lead single on 10 June 2010 and was re-released on 1 November 2011. The song peaked at number 37 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
• "Cameo Lover" was released as the album's second single on 29 March 2011.
• "Good Intent" was released as the album's third single on 15 August 2011. The song peaked at number 98 on the Australian Singles Chart.
• "Warrior" was released as the album's fourth single on 4 May 2012.^[20] The song appears on the Australian Tour Edition/New Zealand Deluxe Edition and the standard North American and European editions of Vows. The song peaked at number 22 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.
• "Two Way Street" was released as the album's fifth single on 17 May 2012.
• "Come into My Head" was released as the album's sixth and final single, with a music video released on 20 September 2012.^[21] This song was also featured in the ending credits of the 2013 movie The Heat starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Track listing

Notes

• Track listing and credits from album booklet.^[25]

Charts and certifications

References