Primal Heart

Primal Heart is the third studio album by New Zealand musician Kimbra. It was released on 20 April 2018 through Warner Bros. Records.^[5] It had originally been scheduled for release on 19 January 2018, but was pushed back.^[6] Kimbra released "Hi Def Distance Romance" as a free exclusive download to fans signed up to her mailing list.^[7] The album spawned 6 singles.

Primal Heart
Studio album by Kimbra
Released	20 April 2018
Recorded	2015–2017
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	44:24
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Kimbra (also exec.) John Congleton (also exec.) Timon Martin Taylor Graves Andrew Maury Matt Friedman Skrillex Tony Berg Ethan Gruska
Kimbra chronology
The Golden Echo (2014) Primal Heart (2018) A Reckoning (2023)
Singles from Primal Heart
"Everybody Knows" Released: 29 September 2017 "Top of the World" Released: 10 November 2017 "Human" Released: 19 January 2018[2] "Version of Me" Released: 23 February 2018[3] "Like They Do on the TV" Released: 30 March 2018[4] "Lightyears" Released: 31 January 2019

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The Independent	[10]
NME	[11]
The Observer	[12]
Pitchfork	5.9/10[13]

Primal Heart was positively received by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[8]

Track listing

Primal Heart

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Good War"	Kimbra Johnson Timon Martin	Kimbra John Congleton Martin[b]	3:38
2.	"Top of the World"	Johnson Sonny Moore Lars Horntveth	Kimbra Congleton Skrillex[a]	3:25
3.	"Everybody Knows"	Johnson Taylor Graves	Kimbra Congleton Graves[b] Martin[b]	3:44
4.	"Like They Do on the TV"	Johnson Ian Kirkpatrick Michael Tighe	Kimbra Congleton Andrew Maury[a]	4:19
5.	"Recovery"	Johnson Graves	Kimbra Congleton Graves[b]	3:19
6.	"Human"	Johnson Tighe Paul Salva Robin Hannibal	Kimbra Congleton	3:58
7.	"Lightyears"	Johnson Matt Friedman Scott Mellis	Kimbra Congleton Maury[a] Friedman[b]	3:31
8.	"Black Sky"	Johnson David Saw Matt Robinson Natasha Bedingfield	Kimbra Congleton	3:51
9.	"Past Love"	Johnson Friedman	Kimbra Congleton Friedman[b]	3:35
10.	"Right Direction"	Johnson Benjamin Davies	Kimbra Congleton	4:45
11.	"Version of Me"	Johnson Ethan Gruska Tony Berg	Kimbra Congleton Gruska[b] Berg[b]	3:57
12.	"Real Life"	Johnson	Kimbra	2:22
Total length:				44:24

Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined^[14]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Black Sky"	Johnson Saw Robinson Bedingfield	Horntveth	5:24
2.	"Everybody Knows"	Johnson Graves	Horntveth	4:46
3.	"The Good War"	Johnson Martin	Horntveth	4:19
4.	"Hi Def Distance Romance"	Johnson Martin	Horntveth	3:32
Total length:				18:01

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Musicians

• Kimbra – vocals (all tracks), drum programming (tracks 1–4, 7), keyboards (1, 8)
• John Congleton – bass (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7), drum programming (2, 4–7), additional programming (2), synthesizer (6)
• Timon Martin – guitar (tracks 1, 4, 5, 7), programming (1, 6), synthesizer (1), drum programming (3, 8), additional keyboards (6), additional programming (9)
• Bobby Sparks – synthesizer (track 1), Wurlitzer (2), keyboards (9, 10)
• Lars Horntveth – synthesizer (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 8), synth bass (2, 3, 5, 7), saxophone (4), tenor saxophone (6), guitar (8, 9),arrangement (8), string arrangement (9, 10), strings (9), sound effects (11)
• Pino Palladino – bass (track 2)
• Skrillex – drum programming (track 2)
• Taylor Graves – keyboards, programming (tracks 3, 5); synthesizer (5)
• Spencer Zahn – bass (tracks 3, 6), synth bass (8)
• Joey Waronker – drums (tracks 3, 9, 10), additional programming (5)
• Andrew Maury – additional programming, guitar (track 4); programming, synthesizer (7)
• Ian Kirkpatrick – synthesizer programming (track 4)
• Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – synthesizer (tracks 6, 9, 10), piano (9), Wurlitzer (10)
• Paul Salva – additional programming (track 6)
• Robin Hannibal – keyboards (track 6)
• Matthew Masurska – additional synthesizer, programming (track 7)
• Matt Friedman – programming, synthesizer (track 7)
• F.A.M.E.'s Project – strings (tracks 9–11)
• Macedonian Orchestra – strings (tracks 9–11)
• Zachary Dawes – bass (tracks 9, 10)
• Ethan Gruska – piano (track 11)
• Owen Pallett – string arrangement (track 11)

Technical

• Greg Calbi – mastering
• John Congleton – mixing

Visuals

• Kimbra – creative direction
• Margo Graxeda – creative direction
• Norman Wonderly – creative direction
• Vlad Sepetov – art direction, graphic design, packaging
• Micaiah Carter – photography

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15]	31
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16]	12
US Billboard 200[17]	179

References

1. Empire, Kitty (22 April 2018). "Kimbra: Primal Heart review – lacking in blood". The Observer. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
2. "Kimbra Shares Official Video For New Track 'Human'". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
3. "Kimbra Releases Her New Song, "Version of Me" With Her Official Music Video – Warner Bros. Records Official Blog". Warner Bros. Records Official Website. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
4. "Kimbra's New Single Is A Breezy, Synthy, Nostalgia Trip About The Power Of TV". Uproxx. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
5. "Kimbra Moves Release of New Album 'Primal Heart' to 4/20". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
6. "Splash - Kimbra Official Website - Preorder Primal Heart Now! - Create your own Primal Heart video!". Kimbra Official Website. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
7. "Kimbra on Instagram: "Today I released some news to those of you on my mailing list. If you're not on it already I encourage you to join me as it's the main..."". Instagram. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
8. "Reviews for Primal Heart by Kimbra". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
9. Phares, Heather. "Primal Heart - Kimbra". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
10. Kaplan, Ilana (19 April 2018). "Album reviews: Tim Burgess, Alexis Taylor, Sting & Shaggy, Kimbra, and A Perfect Circle". The Independent. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
11. Mylre, Hannah (20 April 2018). "Kimbra – 'Primal Heart' Review". NME. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
12. Empire, Kitty (22 April 2018). "Kimbra: Primal Heart review – lacking in blood". The Observer. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
13. Barlow, Eve (25 April 2018). "Kimbra: Primal Heart Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
14. "Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined". iTunes Store. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
15. "Australiancharts.com – Kimbra – Primal Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
16. "Charts.nz – Kimbra – Primal Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
17. "Kimbra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 May 2018.