Kimbra’s visit to Expo 2020 Dubai this week is, in a way, a homecoming.
For the past 14 years, the two-time Grammy Award-winner from New Zealand, whose full name is Kimbra Lee Johnson, has built a successful career in the US as an adventurous singer-songwriter and producer.
The relocation has paid dividends with her landing a 2011 chart-topping hit – Somebody I Used to Know with Aussie-Belgian artist Gotye – headlining the US music festival Coachella and releasing three acclaimed albums.
Her Expo shows at Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre, on Monday and Wednesday, mark the first time an audience will hear tracks from her coming and yet-to-be-titled fourth album outside of the US, where she recently completed a small run of sold-out gigs.
The UAE concerts are being organised by the New Zealand Pavilion, and Kimbra, 31, is looking forward to being a cultural ambassador for the Kiwis.
“I don’t get many chances to represent New Zealand as I have been living away since I was 17 years old,” she tells The National from New York. "It still remains so much part of who I am, though, in that I am a Kiwi through and through.
“I am just excited to be at the Expo and to align myself with New Zealand.”
Experimental sounds
Like many of her peers, Kimbra’s whirlwind career of back-to-back global tours suddenly stopped in March 2020 with the pandemic shuttering music venues worldwide.
While the change of circumstances was disorientating at first, she used the time away to work on her most experimental album yet.
“I have been using a lot of different technology to manipulate and create new effects with my voice, whether it is looping it, making it sound like a choir or even a synthesiser,” Kimbra says.
"As a result, the new songs are challenging to record and play live and we are trying to learn them and get them right.
“Being on the road a little bit, we are seeing how the songs are opening up and taking on their own lives. It's exciting."
Everything about the album, Kimbra says, has been created with the aim of pushing the envelope and inviting fans to be part of the process.
Both strands come together in her latest collaboration with online platform KLKTN (pronounced collection).
Kimbra joined the tech start-up in October and now fans can click on her page and get paid access to fresh tracks, video diaries, behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the album, plus NFT artworks.
"I am trying to create a community of fans who really want those insights, like hearing the original demos of the songs," she says.
"And I create so much that just sits there on my computer that I realised, why don't I share this with people?
“Getting involved in the visual artworks for sale is also a pretty exciting step because it provides income for artists, that we didn't have for a long time."
One of pop music’s weirdest songs
One track Kimbra won’t have a problem playing in Dubai is the aforementioned Somebody That I Used to Know.
When Gotye recruited her to sing the break-up ballad a decade ago, the last thing on her mind was global acclaim (including being sung by the cast of TV series Glee).
"Whenever I hear it now on the radio, it just takes me back to performing it at Coachella or on Saturday Night Live," she says.
"My brain goes back to all these memories, like recording the vocal in my bedroom.”
While she doesn’t exactly understand how such a slow-burning track became such a big hit, Kimbra says its success remains a source of confidence when composing her own unorthodox songs.
"It is a weird song but it does give me faith that some things can succeed the way that song did.
"It also made me really ambitious as an artist. So if any record label person tries to tell me what makes a hit, I will just stare him in the face and tell them 'really?' Because I was part of a hit and it definitely didn't sound like that.”
Kimbra performs at the Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre, Expo 2020 Dubai, on Monday and Wednesday, November 8 and 10, from 8.30pm. Concerts are free with an Expo pass. More information is available at the New Zealand Pavilion website.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
More from our neighbourhood series:
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
