Kimbra - Vows [15th Anniversary, Remastered, Expanded, Deluxe 2-LP Set]

When Kimbra released Vows in 2011, there was no single version of it. Fans in New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. and Europe each heard a different album, with the track listing reshuffled for every territory. It was a success everywhere regardless: Top Five in her homeland, Top 15 in the States, and the arrival of a singer and arranger who sounded like nobody else on pop radio.

The music earns the fuss. Vows moves through pop, jazz, R&B, and rock without settling in any one of them, built on stacked vocal loops, elastic rhythms, and hooks that take sharp left turns. "Settle Down" and "Cameo Lover" show how much she could fit into a pop single, while her cover of "Plain Gold Ring" drew comparisons to Nina Simone. Björk, Rufus Wainwright, and Jeff Buckley came up just as often, which says plenty about the range and nerve of a debut record.

Fifteen years later, Vows holds up as one of the most inventive pop debuts of its era, and this is the first time it has existed in one complete form. Kimbra herself pulled from all of the regional versions to program and sequence a definitive edition, so the running order finally reflects her own vision of the album.

This expanded 2LP set offers 18 tracks and more than 80 minutes of remastered music, housed in a gatefold jacket with both records tucked inside printed Euro sleeves. One LP is pressed in white with black streaks and the other in black with white streaks, a mirrored pair that matches the album's visual identity. It is the complete version of Vows, and the one to own.