“Umm, this last song is about Vampires” squeaked the diminutive blonde on stage.
She had just explained to the crowd that her anxieties made a traditional encore WAY too nerve wracking, and that this would be her last song. I found it odd that the girl previously pirouetting across the stage and growling at the crowd despite suffering from the flu would have any concept of anxiety, but these juxtapositions seem to make sense tonight amidst the thick smoke and sea of eclectic clothing; all black. This is the life of Claire Boucher, aka indie darling and experimental pop artist Grimes. Her most recent album had come out a week earlier, and she was now performing in front of a soldout crowd in Terminal 5.
After lo-fi opener Nicole Dollanganger and her guitarists literally headbanged their way through a 30 minute set, the lights shut off save for a single flash of green that illuminated the heavy clouds of smoke. Seconds later, the iconic opera-esque voice everyone had been waiting for pierced through the entire venue, followed by the collective screams of an entire crowd who knew they were about to have their world rocked. As she serenaded Terminal 5 with the opening track of her new album, “laughing and not being normal”, one of her dancers emerged through the darkness and flowed across the stage in a perfectly coordinated interpretive dance. As her opener ended and the lights brightened to the point of visibility, Grimes walked forward with a Cheshire grin on her face and, with her distinctively adorable lisp, frantically thanked the crowd. This was the girl everyone had been waiting for, and one song in it was clear she was going to deliver.
Grimes has been releasing music since her 2010 debut album Geidi Primes, which represented her first foray into the unique mix of pop, electronic, and indie music that defines her sound. Boucher followed that effort up with the marginally more successful Halfaxa, and then released a split-EP with underground electronic artist d’Eon. It wasn’t until 2012, with the release of her critically acclaimed third album Visions, that Grimes began experiencing some real commercial success. Visions has become a celebrated classic, featuring heralded singles “Genesis” and “Oblivion”. Those two singles are simply the beginning of the seminal album, which features an amalgam of heavy electronic beats, generation spanning synth sounds, and typical Grimes vocals. To say that expectations were high following Visions is an understatement. Boucher released two singles in the past two years; the synth heavy “REALiTi”, and the trap-heavy, Blood Diamonds produced “Go”. Then, after a supposed hiatus, Grimes announced the release of her fourth full album, Art Angels, on November 6th.
On first listen Art Angels seems to be a departure from the macabre synth sounds featured and adored on her previous albums. Songs like “California” and “Pin” have more in common with Carly Rae Jepsen than previous Grimes albums, a disconcerting feeling for fans of Boucher’s earlier work. Twitter quickly exploded with outrage from this new direction, accusing Grimes of ‘selling out’ to become a more traditional popstar. These accusations prompted Grimes to tweet “there is so much beauty in music. I wish perceived commercial ambition was not the topic sometimes”. This initial outrage proved to be unwarranted in the scope of the rest of the album. Despite an admitted emphasis on a more “pop” sound in Art Angels, the album has still provided us with new Grimes classics. “Venus Fly”, which features Janelle Monae rapping while Boucher repeatedly yelps “Oh, why you looking at me?” is an immediate addition to Grimes’ catalogue of danceable beats, while “Flesh without Blood” is perhaps the best application of pop on the entire album. Still, it is the vampire based “Kill V. Maim” that immediately stands out as the shining jewel of the album. Grimes’ vocals hit every iteration of her previous sounds, running the gamut from her playful, doll-like singing, to cheerleader-esque chanting, and even punk growling. Art Angels features Grimes at her best and her worst; her most pop induced ballads are balanced out by some of her most danceable and catchy beats yet. While her sound sometimes strays too far from the murky electronic music that has made her so beloved by her fans, the album is ostensibly Grimes.
Charles Gare