Electronic musician and producer (and former BUST cover girl) Grimes (a/k/a Claire Boucher) made a landmark record with 2012’s Visions, a DIY, feminist work of art that took inspiration from such varied sources as Nine Inch Nails and Mariah Carey. Her new album, the much-anticipated follow-up Art Angels, is more focused in its scope: pure pop for 2015.
Tracks like “Kill V. Maim” and “Venus Fly,” the latter of which features Janelle Monáe, are like dubstep fight songs for a fierce, alternative girl gang. Softer songs like “California” and “Flesh without Blood” could almost be outtakes from Taylor Swift’s latest record, if not for Grimes’s unmistakable, maximalist, industrial-tinged production.
Though Art Angels is a distinctly more accessible pop record than Visions, there are still plenty of moments of Grimes-as-weirdo-outsider-artist. A standout track is “Scream,” in which Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes carries the vocals (entirely in Mandarin), and Grimes contributes a haunting scream that acts as the chorus. Grimes also embraces the higher end of her vocal range on this album, a bold, challenging choice with inherent feminist implications.
Art Angels is a bold, original, yet easily digestible set of songs, music that should be as well-received by music snobs as those who just want to dance. Once again, Grimes has set the bar just a little bit higher.
Art Angels is available now on 4AD! Click here to download the album on iTunes!
More from BUST
Iggy Pop And Kylie Minogue Will Cover 'Christmas Wrapping' And It Will Be Amazing
Grimes At The Mayan Theater For #30DaysInLA: Concert Review
LIZ GALVAO is the Music Editor at BUST Magazine. Her writing focuses on humor, feminism, and pop culture.
