Lydia Jenkin, of The New Zealand Herald's Time Out magazine, gave Vows 4/5 stars, praising Kimbra's "exciting vocal experiments on this colourful debut with impressive range". The album received generally favorable reviews, obtaining a normalised score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on reviews from 16 selected mainstream critics. The album artwork including body art and illustrations were created by Rhys Mitchell and Raphael Rizzo. On Vows was released to the North American market, debuting at #14 on the Billboard 200. This edition of the album was released in New Zealand on as Vows: Deluxe Edition. Hailing from Hamilton, New Zealand, singer/songwriter Kimbra has been active in the music industry from the age of 10 until now.
It was released in Australia as Vows: Australian Tour Edition to coincide with her winter 2012 tour and included 6 previously unreleased songs.
On, the album was re-released with six new songs, new mixing and was mastered by Colin Leonard in Atlanta, GA. Vows has been certified Platinum in Australia for shipment of 70,000 units and Platinum in New Zealand for sales of 15,000 units. In Australia, the album debuted at #5 on the ARIA Albums Chart, later peaking at #4. Vows charted at #3 on the RIANZ Albums Chart in its first week after release, with "Settle Down" re-entering the singles chart at #37. Vows has spawned 3 charting singles, "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" and "Good Intent". The album was recorded between 20 and was released on 29 August 2011 in New Zealand, and on 2 September in Australia by Warner Bros. Effortlessly flitting from bubblegum pop starlet on the playful old-skool beats and. Vows is the debut studio album by New Zealand recording artist Kimbra. Echoing the experimental nature of recent collaborator Gotye, whose number one single 'Somebody That I Used to Know' she stole the show on, New Zealand songstress Kimbra s debut album, Vows, is a schizophrenic affair that is almost impossible to pigeonhole.