Our favorite part of “Somebody That I Used to Know” gets a song of her own…

[Video][Myspace]
[5.86]

Brad Shoup: The difference between Tom Waits and Tom Waits is slim indeed. Kimbra strews a few red herrings within her infidelity creep, but it seems all we need to know is the walking upright, the xylophone, and the muted trumpet. I’m not one for pastiche, so I can’t rate this nearly as highly as I would “Settle Down,” which was a throwback only where it counts.
[5]

Alfred Soto: Marimbas, spook harmonies, electric piano — of course it conjures Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs. Insinuating and free of histrionics, “Good Intent” justifies itself every time it returns to the chorus hook, even when I relisten in vain to look for further justifications.
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: Kimbra and Lykke Li aren’t on the same continent, in the same musical scene or, for now, possessed of identical fanbases, yet this and the underrated-in-retrospect “I Follow Rivers” both aim for the maximalist noir done gloriously by Martina Topley-Bird and Danger Mouse, and flirted with by the likes of Duffy and Candie Payne, but never as prevalent as it deserves. On both tracks, guitars groan and sounds stalk, and both are suffused with menace, but the similarities end at style. Kimbra is slinky where Lykke Li is curt; her song sashays in place of Li’s clenched-breath march. Kimbra’s a showier, flirtier vocalist than Li, who sings like she long ago forgot the line between desire and duress. Lykke Li talks about begging and unraveling and doom; Kimbra talks about ligers. The form, though, drapes perfectly over both personalities; all we need now is a third to triangulate a trend, then hundreds more to follow.
[9]

Edward Okulicz: Kimbra’s slink atop this tricksy jazz-pop arrangement is as delicious as it is devious, revealing appealing kinks in her voice. I’ll take fun over class, but I don’t begrudge class when it appears. While this isn’t the most exciting pop song of the week it certainly drips class.
[7]

Jonathan Bradley: Schticky cabaret pop that can’t even open its eyes enough to deliver a compelling chorus. “Good Intent” might as well have been written for the boorish Australian flappers-and-gangsters crime drama Underbelly: Razor; it has the same stink of a low rent production grasping desperately to present itself as quality entertainment.
[2]

Alex Ostroff: It’s difficult to pull off jazzier progressions and similarly influenced vocals in pop music without coming off as affected or annoying. Even the most talented singers risk being pigeonholed as an acquired taste (see: McKay, Nellie). That “Good Intent” doesn’t code as blatantly retro or gratingly ‘quirky’ is an accomplishment in and of itself. The swiftness with which Kimbra sets a mood that sends shivers down my spine and sets my hair on end is why I’m looking forward to her next move.
[7]

Sally O’Rourke: Kimbra’s lone verse in “Somebody That I Used to Know” was so compelling in its rawness that it’s a shame she feels the need to dress up her own material with oversung quirkiness. At best, “Good Intent” is Kimbra doing Eleni Mandell doing Tom Waits, complete with “Way Down in the Hole” sax; at worst, it’s a drama kid kohling up her eyes in costume room mirror and practicing her “sexy” voice.
[5]