Album Review: Grimes - Visions
2012; Arbutus / 4AD
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Could there ever be such a well-polished, Asian influenced record to come out of Canada? Probably not - that seems like a pretty well defined niche. Grimes is the project of Claire Boucher, a Vancouver native thoroughly invested in world music, mostly Eastern. Her voice is a beautiful wisp of air, floating in the ethereal waves of lush synth. Boucher’s voice is very much the focal point of Visions, leaving a lot of the synth textures to inhabit your subconscious. She described the release as “Post-Internet,” which sums up the release pretty well; a lot of the drum tracks sound like keystrokes or error notifications. The Japanese influence is stark, although progressive; each track seems to start off with a simple idea and blossom until there is a landscape of sound for Boucher to rule with her classically trained pipes. Visions certainly is not for everyone, while still grasping on to mass appeal through its synth-pop structure. Boucher offers a mature, refined release for her “Post-Internet” music, allowing all to indulge in her blissful deconstruction.
Verdict: Recommended
