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Review: Joe Brown [2/23/12]

The music that Grimes creates feels as if it is the pop music of the 1980’s processed through the filter of the 2010’s. Synthesizers, drum machines, airy vocals and a generally carefree vibe characterize nearly every song on Visions, Grimes’ third full-length album and debut with 4AD. Claire Boucher, the Canadian-born girl behind the Grimes name, has made no reservations in asserting that she is a child of the digital age and her music has been influenced by everything. Instead of being indebted to one particular style or artist, Boucher has taken components of indie rock, electronic music, dream pop, hip hop and house music to create a timeless record. Unfortunately it is timeless in the sense that it has no defining characteristic to tether it to a specific time or place.

Make no mistake, Visions is an impressive and enjoyable album with moments peppered throughout that underline Boucher’s talent. The one-two punch of “Genesis” and “Oblivion” exhibit an artist with a distinct ability to be individualistic within the parameters in which she works. Both songs are imbued with emotion by pulling a variety of disparaging elements into each song to form a beautiful whole. “Visiting Statue” is a short, vibrating song that has a dark feel and has Boucher singing in her lower register for a small portion of the tune. It manages to be short without being slight and is one of the most minimalistic songs on Visions. “Skin” is the penultimate song of the album and has the potential to be the most transcendent song in Grimes’ catalog at this early point in her career. It is a soft, sensual song that differs greatly from everything preceding it. The lyrics are at their most easily understood while the music is at its sparsest, which gives the song a distinctly human vibe. It is a song about connection that easily latches onto the emotions of listeners.

The remainder of the album suffers from excess, indistinct vision and a lack of musical direction. “Eight” sounds as though the word “Tardis” is being repeated by the Daleks (after they’ve finally killed the Doctor) and it overwhelms the track. “Circumambient” incorporates elements of dubstep and house music to create a generic dance-pop song. Boucher’s voice is impressive here, but it is an exercise in futility when it is paired with a nondescript instrumental. Everything else falls between these areas. They are either too close to be pure dance music (“Be A Body (侘寂)”) or they fail because there are too many elements being processed to successfully create something unique and pure at the same time (“Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus)”).

Visions is an apt title for Grimes’ 4AD debut. It appears as though Claire Boucher had several different directions she envisioned this album heading - and instead of going with one, she took songs about which she felt strongly and put them together to form the album we received. The thing about the album is that there is very little that sticks with listeners after the album is finished playing. There are great songs here and the album is addictive once it begins, but it is addictive in the way candy is addictive – you can have an entire bag and at the end not feel as though anything has been consumed; Visions is the same way. It does not create a sense of being musically-fulfilled. With Boucher’s obvious talent, there is no doubt she will continue to hone her craft and create something substantial. Once she finds influences that directly impact her work and uses that as a guide to create a unified piece or work, her art will be positively affected and we’ll all benefit from seeing things her way.

Score: [6.8/10]