Cameo Lover

Last updated
"Cameo Lover"
Cameo Lover - Kimbra.jpg
Single by Kimbra
from the album Vows
Released29 March 2011 (2011-03-29)
Recorded2010
Genre
Length4:02
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kimbra singles chronology
"Settle Down"
(2010)
"Cameo Lover"
(2011)
"Somebody That I Used to Know"
(2011)

"Cameo Lover" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist Kimbra from her debut studio album, Vows . The song was released in New Zealand and Australia as the album's second single on 29 March 2011. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2011 Kimbra won ARIA Award for Best Female Artist for the song, while its video was nominated for Best Video. [1] [2] The song, written by Kimbra, was nominated for 'Song of the Year' at the 2012 APRA Music Awards. [3] [4]

Contents

In July 2011, the song won the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition. [5] [6] Earlier that year, Gotye had first noticed Kimbra when both were short-listed as finalists for the competition. [7] Gotye subsequently invited Kimbra to feature as the lead female vocalist on his recording of "Somebody That I Used to Know". [7]

Background

The song is about a guy who lives in the dark, he's brooding and the one who's singing the song, in this case Kimbra, is trying to bring him out.

Composition

This song is composed in the key of C♯, and has the bpm of 128. The song features heavy synth and percussion. The vocals span 2 octaves and a semitone excluding harmonies, the lowest note being G3 and the highest being G♯5.

Track listing

  1. "Cameo Lover" - 4:05
  2. "Cameo Lover" (Mic Newman Remix) - 7:48
  3. "Settle Down" (Live @ Sing Sing) - 4:28
  4. "Settle Down" (Penguin Prison Remix) - 4:55

Official Remixes

Music video

The official music video for "Cameo Lover" was posted on Kimbra's YouTube channel on 25 April 2011. [9] The video run time is 3 minutes 58 seconds. In the video, Kimbra is on a white set, wearing a pink dress, and facing five men in desks all wearing black tuxedos and black blindfolds. As the chorus comes in, young girls appear with Kimbra, all playing tambourines, and it shows that the tuxedos, blindfolds, and nails of the men begin to change into bright colours of the rainbow as the music continues. But the man in the middle, who is supposed to be Kimbra's "cameo lover," does not change colours until later on in the song, as the men next to him encourage him by lip syncing and hitting their desks to the beat. As the set goes dark, the two girls from Kimbra's "Settle Down" music video join her, dressed in blue, they lip sync with Kimbra and begin to play tambourines as all the other girls. In the end, confetti falls around the girls and Kimbra as the songs begins to end and they dance around happily. The men in the desks all change colours of their suits, and the man in the middle takes off his blindfold revealing his blue eyes to Kimbra.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eskimo Joe</span>

Eskimo Joe are an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 1997 by Stuart MacLeod, on lead guitar, Joel Quartermain, on drums and guitar, and Kavyen Temperley, on bass guitar and vocals, in East Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Tétaz</span> Musical artist

François "Franc" Tétaz is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the Year' Award for Wolf Creek (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gotye</span> Belgian-Australian musician (born 1980)

WouterAndré "Wally" De Backer, better known by his stage name Gotye, is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognate of his Dutch given name "Wouter".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart MacLeod (musician)</span> Musical artist

Stuart Leslie MacLeod is the guitarist and backup singer of the Australian band, Eskimo Joe. He lives in Fremantle, Western Australia. When he was seven he lived next door to Kavyen Temperley and they have been best friends for years. MacLeod and Temperley attended John Curtin Senior High School together. MacLeod then went on to study Engineering and Commerce at the University of Western Australia. In 1997 MacLeod started jamming with Temperley, who was in a band, Freud's Pillow. MacLeod co-wrote several Freud's Pillow's songs. The pair decided to form a new band and auditioned a few drummers before settling on Joel Quartermain, who was a guitarist in Freud's Pillow, but had mentioned he also played drums. MacLeod and Temperley decided Quartermain was more musical than any other drummer they had auditioned. They then entered the band, Eskimo Joe, into the Australian National Campus Band Competition. The first heat in August 1997 was Eskimo Joe's first performance, they went on to win the state final and then the national competition, the reward being a chance to play at the Livid Festival together with a recording session in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birds of Tokyo</span> Australian alternative rock band

Birds of Tokyo are an Australian alternative rock band from Perth, Western Australia. Their debut album, Day One, gained them domestic success, reaching number three on the AIR Independent Album charts and spending a total of 36 consecutive weeks in the top ten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanda & Young</span> Australian songwriting/producing duo

Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and backing singer and Young was their rhythm guitarist and backing singer. Vanda & Young co-wrote most of the Easybeats' later hits including their international hit "Friday on My Mind" and they were the record producers for the group from 1967. Young was the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young of the hard rock band AC/DC and also the record producer behind several of the band's biggest albums. The "Guitar George" and "Harry" who are mentioned in the Dire Straits hit song "Sultans of Swing" are George Young and Harry Vanda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimbra</span> New Zealand singer and songwriter

Kimbra Lee Johnson, known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards. Her musical influences range from Prince and Minnie Riperton to Björk and Jeff Buckley.

Georgina Kristine Noelle Kingsley, most commonly known by her stage name Georgi Kay, is an English-born Australian indie pop musician, currently based in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somebody That I Used to Know</span> 2011 single by Gotye featuring Kimbra

"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand by Eleven Music on 5 July 2011 as the second single from Gotye's third studio album, Making Mirrors (2011). It was later released by Universal Music in December 2011 in the United Kingdom, and 20 January 2012 in the United States and Ireland. "Somebody That I Used to Know" was written and recorded by Gotye at his parents' house on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, and is lyrically related to the experiences he has had with relationships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lanie Lane</span> Musical artist

Lanie Lane is the stage name of Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston, an Australian blues-jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist. Lane released two studio albums between 2011 and 2014. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2012, Lane was nominated for five awards. In February 2015, Lane announced she was "quitting" the music industry.

The 2011 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day 26 January 2012. It is the nineteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.

Husky are an indie folk band from Melbourne, Australia. They have opened for Neil Young, Devendra Banhart, Gotye, The Shins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">APRA Music Awards of 2012</span>

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2012 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2012 was the 30th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 28 May 2012 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Art Music Awards were introduced in 2011 to replace the Classical Music Awards and were distributed on 3 April at the Sydney Opera House. They are sponsored by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to "recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music". The Screen Music Awards were issued on 19 November by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), which "acknowledges excellence and innovation in the genre of screen composition".

Louis Schoorl is a Dutch-born Australian songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Preatures</span> Australian indie rock band

The Preatures were an Australian indie rock band from Sydney, New South Wales, who formed in 2010. The band consisted of lead vocalist and keyboardist Isabella "Izzi" Manfredi, guitarist and vocalist Jack Moffitt, bassist Thomas Champion, and drummer Luke Davison. Vocalist and guitarist Gideon Bensen was a member of the band until 2016. In 2013, the Preatures won the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition with their song "Is This How You Feel?" They disbanded in 2021, following the launch of Manfredi's solo career.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2013 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2013 was the 31st annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 17 June 2013 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adore (Amy Shark song)</span> 2016 single by Amy Shark

"Adore" is a song written and recorded by Australian singer-songwriter Amy Shark. It was released independently and digitally on 26 July 2016 and re-released in November 2016 after signing with Sony Music Australia. It received heavy airplay on Triple J and quickly gained traction with other more mainstream radio stations in early 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Evans (singer)</span> Australian singer-songwriter

Morgan John Evans is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. He released a self-titled debut studio album in March 2014, which peaked at number 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2019, he won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album for his second studio album, Things That We Drink To. Evans also had a crossover hit in the United States with "Kiss Somebody" in 2017.

The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. The competition awards a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and was named after iconic writers Harry Vanda and George Young, known as Vanda & Young.

References

  1. "2011 ARIA Awards Winners by Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  2. "The Countdown Begins....Nominations Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. "Nominations > Song of the Year – 2012". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. "APRA nomination". Kimbramusic.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  5. "Past Winners". APRA AMCOS . Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. "2011 Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition – Winners Announcement". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 15 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 Nimmervoll, Ed. "Gotye". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  8. "Settle Down - EPon iTunes". apple inc. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  9. "Kimbra - "Cameo Lover" Official Music Video". Youtube.com. 2011-04-25. Retrieved 2012-09-30.