Kimbra Unleashes Magnetic Second Single Titled, “Replay!” for Upcoming 2023 Album

Kimbra Unleashes Magnetic Second Single titled, “Replay!” for Upcoming 2023 Album

You may or may not know Kimbra from her features (“Somebody That I Used to Know” – Goyte feat. Kimbra) and numerous albums (most recently Daffodils and Primal Heart), but regardless – the entertainment industry has much to say about the New Zealand artist.

Following the release of “Save Me” and podcast Playing With Fire, Kimbra has just released “Replay!” – the second single of her upcoming studio album, A Reckoning, out Jan. 27 of next year via Inertia / [PIAS]. The single starts with an upbeat of drums and a warped voice chanting the chorus:

“What you doin’ in my head? / I can’t get caught up again / What’s the matter with my head? / Stuck in automatic / What you doin’ with my brain? / I’m master of my domain / What you puttin’ in my head? / Can’t stop the replay.”

Kimbra then sings each verse smoothly and calmly, ironically going against the melodramatic chaos that ensues in her mind. This chaos is highlighted in the chorus and contrasted with each lulling verse in both the instrumentals and the vocals.

Disclaimer: the “Replay!” music video below may potentially trigger those with light sensitivities, such as epilepsy.

The new single’s music video, directed by Colin Solal Cardo, is especially dynamic with its flashing lights and sensually aggressive theme. In the music video, Kimbra is sporting a black bodysuit and black leather coat along with sleek hair and minimal makeup. She’s seen tugging at her body and face, seemingly insane, to match the emotional pull of her lyrics. Kimbra shares her inspiration behind the new single, stating,

“I’m interested in the motivations behind our anger and compulsive tendencies. I wanted to make a song that depicted two sides of my internal experience, one is chaotic but the other is very in control, introspective and calm… This song is about the experience of being on loop. There’s this movie going around in my head replaying both the beautiful and the terrifying times during a relationship. But there’s also an inability to let go. Hanging onto the pain made me feel like this person was still in my life. There was an addictive quality to the cycle, even though I knew it was time to face and release it.”

Kimbra

While Kimbra has only released two of the songs from A Reckoning, her goal with the album is to display themes that comprise the world we live in through vulnerabilities and lessons of her own. The internal war with the self has many parallels and crossover to the problems we face as a society – A Reckoning is meant to be both self-reflective and enlightening as a whole.