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Things have changed a lot for Kimbra since the days she recorded her 2011 debut album Vows in her Melbourne bedroom.

The Kiwi singer is now based in Los Angeles with a bevy of collaborators at her fingertips, including Beach Boys' composer Van Dyke Parks, John Legend, and a former drummer of Michael Jackson's.

They have all had a hand in her second album, which is mastered and awaiting release later this year.

"I never would've dreamed I'd be working with the people I've worked with on this album!" she enthuses.

The past 18 months have been a whirlwind for the 23-year-old. As well as working on the upcoming album, there was also the small matter of the two Grammys she won for her duet with Gotye, 'Somebody I Used to Know'.

She's played a festival in Brazil, worked on a show with her childhood hero Daniel Johns of Silverchair, and written a song for the soundtrack of Tim Burton's Frankenweenie.

But her focus now is on the upcoming album, her "new baby".

"It really is like a child that you've put all this love and care into," she says.

Kimbra took the opportunity to test out a few of her new songs on a live audience at WOMAD 2014.