The folks at Disney have managed to pull in some serious musical stars for the accompanying soundtrack to Tim Burton’s latest cinematic feature, Frankenweenie. Throwing their considerable budget for the new animated picture to enlist the services of indie pop luminaries like Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, Mark Foster of Foster The People, Passion Pit and closer to home – Kimbra.

Today, the Melbourne-via-NZ musical maverick’s contribution to the Frankenweenie soundtrack has leaked online, cropping on YouTube and a number of music blog websites (and you can listen up top in the banner).

Entitled ‘With My Hands’, Kimbra’s brand new recording handily follows the theme of the movie’s plot, with lines like ‘I’ll raise you from the dead/because I don’t want to be alone again’ and the vow to ‘put you back together with my own hands’ cleverly echoing the storyline of the film in which a young boy named Victor resurrects his beloved pooch Sparky back to life through a madcap science experiment.

Over a collage of deep tom rumbles and her trademark, layered vocal tics, Kimbra’s striking neo-soul vocals coalesce with sweeping orchestral flourishes and the kind of visionary music architecture that’s seen her transcend her international person as Gotye’s singing partner on that world-conquering single, to become a success story in her own rite.

Following on from her Frankenweenie contribution, Kimbra is set to follow on the dual nation and international success of her album, Vows – which debuted at an impressive #14 chart position state-side after its overnight release in May. With her equally talented band, Kimbra has already won the hearts of fans and critics alike, but is heading back to America to treat them with an appearance at the Australian-invaded lineup for CMJ 2012.

She’ll be keeping her touring commitments closer to home later in the year as well. Including headlining Festival Of The Sun in December, with the Port Macquarie event recently winning a Tourism Award.

She’ll also be lighting up the stage for the Summadayze 2013 lineup, whose promoters Future Entertainment, yesterday announced that their unique promotional scheme would be going digital and offering cash and prizes to enterprising Future Fans.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine