Entries We Love: Kimiko, 'Hush and a Warning Sign'

Hometown: San Diego, Calif.

Pairs well with: Crying just because

This is Kimiko's first time entering the Tiny Desk Contest, but you'd never know it. Her demeanor is steady and effortlessly commanding, like her voice, and on "Hush and a Warning Sign," her pleading, siren-like vocals take us deep into her eerily beautiful thoughts. The lyrics feel like riddles, as if Kimiko was the only person meant to understand them – an intimate peek into her vulnerable mind. "But nothing ever really matters when you pretend you're something that you're not / And nothing really matters when you're hung up again on your own thoughts," she sings softly. Kimiko's performance proves you don't need to know the meaning of a song, you just need to feel it, and her entry conjures a full range of feelings: longing, frustration, sadness, passion.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.