5 things to know about Miss Anthropocene by Grimes – Vancouver Sun

Grimes. Promo shot for Miss Anthropocene release. 2020 [PNG Merlin Archive]PNG

Grimes | Grimes Creative Corporation/Crystal Math Music

In only a decade, Grimes (a.k.a. Vancouver-born and raised Claire Boucher) has gone from the eerie DYI of 2010s Halifaxa to 2012s confident and expansive critically acclaimed Visions right up to the wildly ambitious and successful sounds of 2015s Art Angels.

Now Miss Anthropocene arrives at a time when Grimes is as much a global brand for her romantic affiliation with Elon Musk and shrewd manipulation of social media platforms as for her music.

Her fifth album is either a concept album about anthropomorphizing climate change into an evil entity, or another delightfully damming confusion of sounds and statements from an artist who is putting out her final earth album this year. This may very well be because she is fed up with all the attention being paid to her amorous adventures rather than her adventurous art.

Spoiler alert: Repeated listenings wont divulge any grand statements about impending global chaos, save for the advice to gleefully fk the world.

However the 11 tracks (or 15 on the superior deluxe edition of the album) are philosophically assembled, Miss Anthropocene lands as one of the first big releases of this decade and certainly one of 2020s most-anticipated records. Here are five things to know about it:

1. So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth. A booming bass line haunts the back of the mix while leaden drums pound out echoing patterns until a vocal bursts forth to lets us all know what Enya huffing helium would sound like. The layers keep on stacking onto the six-minute song, until the lightest thing about it is Grimes repeating the tunes title. The sudden 360 turnaround at the 4:30 mark is quite brilliant, as she apparently falls clean through the planet and its gravity to float in some ambient expanse.

2. Violence (with i_o). This uptempo electro banger is one of the most straightforward songs on the record. But with lyrics such as You wanna make me bad, make me bad/(And I like it like that, and I like it like that), it turns the coquettish pop cluttering up the radio into something far darker and disturbing. Fans will be reading into the juxtaposing of violence, pain, partying and more as some kind of commentary on her relationship. Or Grimes is just eviscerating everyones expectations in public. The video is well worth a peek.

3. New Gods.Even someone used to making sense of the words on extreme black metal recordings could have trouble translating what Grimes is actually saying. Her voice is so often mutated past the point of comprehension, or pinging around the vast echoing background as it does in this song, that you are hard-pressed to pry any kind of meaning out of the music. Which works for a project that is meant to be both ethereal and personal. The mood is as, or more, important than the meaning.

4. Youll miss me when Im not around. From not-fully-realized drum and bass tracks (4M) to the weirdly Taylor Swift-ish acoustic strumming in Delete Forever, the album mixes somewhat experimental approaches with mainstream songcraft. Nowhere is this more realized than in the full-on dance-rock of this hooky track. The heavy guitars coupled with the blasts of mega-manipulated vocal harmonies make this a likely single.

5. We Appreciate Power. Available on the deluxe version of the album, this earlier collaboration with Hana came complete with press statements that it was influenced by everything from pro-A.I. pop bands to ideas of transhumanist desire. OK computer. What is clear is that the songs title is an accurate reflection of the artists being. Its the kind of hard industrial rock track you might expect from Nine Inch Nails, but with a goofball spoken-word bit that could rival Madonnas bad rapping in Vogue. In other words, its more fun than scary. The other remixes on the deluxe edition are of varying quality, with the Algorithm mix of IDORU particularly good.

Myopia | Universal Music Canada

At some point, Obels classical orientation is going to have to take shape in an opera. The voice arrangements paired against the orchestrations in Cameras Rolling sound ready-made to be the opening song to some noir-esque stage play as much as any album track. And that is only the beginning of this lush chamber-pop recordings highlights. Obels music has become even more sparse and flowing with silence used to add emotional impact to every note. Check out how Cant Be uses a riff almost like Laurie Andersons O Superman, and pairs it with a choir that sounds straight out of the Middle Ages. Gorgeous.

[USA] | Polyvinyl Record Co.

More digital thrashing from this chiptune quartet whose use of hacked Nintendo hardware to craft tunes has produced some truly delightful results. To prove that they are more than just a bunch of tech nerds with a love of neat noises, Lorem Ipsum (Arctic Anthem) derives its lyrics from Ciceros 1st-century BC debate about the difference between pleasure and goodness. Of course, rendered through Vocaloid treatment, youre listening to Latin sung by a possessed childs toy. Still, as one example of the groups album with words, so thats pretty good.

March 4 at the Biltmore Cabaret, 2755 Prince Edward St. Tickets and info: $24.00 at eventbrite.ca

Suddenly | Merge Records

Dan Snaith puts the past five years of his life down in a way he never has before on his latest release as Caribou. The opening song, Sister, is a haunting chant about making false promises and the need to break things to change them. Coming from the maths professor-cum-electronic musician, its a melancholy start to the dozen new tracks he selected out of a rumoured 900 to make this album. From the warped lounge piano jazz of Sunnys Theme to slinky sex groover Home, this is full of surprises. Obviously, there are some dance happy tracks too. Never Come Back will have backbones slipping.

All Or Nothing | Fat Cat

This U.K. trio really sounds like some long-lost release from the 1980s heyday of Gang of Four, Au Pairs and others was suddenly discovered, remastered and released. Songs such as Initiative, No Apologies or About You could all have been hits back then or today. Singer/guitarist Rachel Aggs has a way with laying melodic leads over top of bassist/vocalist Billy Easter and drummer/vocalist Andrew Milks mechanistic rhythms that just ripples with edginess. Its a sound that deserves reviving and revering.

March 7 at the Biltmore Cabaret, 2755 Prince Edward St. Tickets and info: $14.50 at eventbrite.ca

sderdeyn@postmedia.com

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5 things to know about Miss Anthropocene by Grimes - Vancouver Sun