The second new record in a row on the blog: Miss antropocene By Grimes, another record five years since the artist's last. But is it good?
So Grimes is a pretty unique artist in biographical terms. She blew up in terms of fame with her 3rd record, Visions, released 2012, carried by the singles Oblivion and Genesis and has only grown in popularity since. I read somewhere that she spent 3 weeks locked in her room with no human interaction to make the record, some sources saying she spent the whole time on speed also. It's also a pretty good pop record. More recently she has started dating Elon Musk (yes, that Elon Musk) and had "experimental eye surgery", for some reason, but still remaining a strangely human figure in the semi-mainstream.
She also released a new record last week called "miss antropocene", possibly her biggest artistic achievement yet. The record feels like it's got a real path and idea it's following, which is set up in opener So heavy I fell through the Earth. The track feels totally spacey, and besides the title, has few lyrics, and just rides off the vibe of the track, but it works as an opener.
Track 2, Darkseid, has Grimes narrating foreboding lyrics that sound like something from Deus Ex before guest vocalist, 潘PAN, starts spitting these super fast autotuned verses in japanese (I assume) that just make the track an absolute banger. The synths in the background evoke the blade runner soundtrack, with these huge foreboding foghorns on the hook. The drum line is almost rhythmic enough to dance to, and then the track just explodes at the 1 minute mark. It's one of my favourite tracks on the record.
Delete forever is next, and opens with acoustic guitar which i did not expect from a Grimes song. The song ends up being about losing friends to drug addiction, which contrasts the pop-y melody pretty heavily. The song introduces country twangs as it goes too. Violence is next and feels more like a traditional grimes track, with her signature ethereal vocals and synth melodies and catchy vocal riffs. It's good. I also like the music video alot.
Next is 4ÆM, and it's just another great track. It builds up like you'd expect a grimes track to, until it gets to the chorus, where it introduces these rave-y drums reminiscent of machine girl, and then some eerie backing vocals. It feels like the kind of track that just absolutely pop off on some good speakers.
New Gods is kind of forgettable, but I do like the themes at least. After that is My Name is Dark, which I have to take marks from for the line "Imminent annihilation sounds so dope", like jesus, what a bad line. But the track does redeem itself and justify it's lyrics as it progresses, it evokes images of staying up for days on end, high on drugs and fucking whoever presents themselves whilst evading death and the government, and the guitar bit that lingers in the back until the end is really cool too. The production is also super duper solid.
After that is You'll miss me when I'm not around and Before the Fever, which both just act as vibe pieces really. The hook on You'll miss me is decent as well as some of the words, but the autotuned vocals are kind of annoying. I have no idea how the latter goes.
The last track, IDORU, leaves the album on a high note. It feels like Grimes has come back down to earth, and to nature, to enjoy human interaction and love, and the melodies are just really summer-y and nice. I could see it dragging on a bit but for now I'm enjoying it.
So overall, I liked the record. It feels cohesive, the songs are really well produced for the most part and feature an awesome range of instrumentation, and feels like. Something I didn't mention a whole lot was Grimes' use of her natural vocals, which she normally layers with effects, which gives the album a really human feel at points. In the end, it's just a really good record, and probably one I'll be listening to for a good few years to come. check it out!
Comments