Grimes’ radiant Art Angels

With Visions, Grimes (the stage name of Claire Boucher) gave us an album that combined the danceable sound of synthpop with introspection and sorrow of dark-wave. One of the defining albums of 2012, it was celebrated and adored by many including myself.

Upon first hearing ‘REALiTi’ (the original version), I felt confident that Boucher would deliver another sonically impressive album, distinct and radical when compared to her contemporaries.

This confidence soon began to fade with the release of new singles ‘Flesh without Blood’ and ‘Life in the Vivid Dream’, the first we would hear from the record. I was ready to let my own expectations inhibit my ability to form a fair opinion of Art Angels. But after seeing how they fit into her new work, it’s obvious that Grimes hasn’t completely left her old sound behind. Her music is now more guitar driven and borders on bubblegum pop. And somehow it works.

Art Angels is full of bangers (and I say that un-ironically).

The songs stand on their own: catchy, uplifting, and accessible

On ‘California’, a hate track aimed at Pitchfork, a thumping kick drum and sampled clap accompany Boucher as you exclaims: “The things they see in me, I cannot see myself / When you get bored of me, I’ll be back on the shelf.” She complains about the disparity between her own image and the one that the media presents. Don’t worry, here at FELIX we’ll always love you. The drawn out “California” in the chorus turns the song into one of the year’s biggest anthems.

Grimes crushes it on the unhinged ‘Kill V. Maim’, a song “written from the perspective of Al Pacino in The Godfather Pt 2. Except he’s a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space.” It’s one of the many songs from the album that forces your body to wiggle and jerk in ways Drake would be proud of.

Janelle Monae’s guest vocals on ‘Venus Fly’ turn it into strange futuristic pop. It lures you in with a trap-like beat and then surprises you with beautiful violin solo. It’s easily the most experimental track on the album.

Like an angel from heaven, Art Angels, glows with a radiance. It stays within the confines of pop music but is able to transcend the tired tropes of the pop industrial complex. While it might not be coherent as previous albums, the songs stand on their own: catchy, uplifting, and accessible.

Art Angels by Grimes is out now on 4AD