Grimes' latest album 'Miss Anthropocene' is full of dark matter with pinpricks of hope, heaven locked beneath
Claire Elise Boucher (known by her stage name as Grimes) has released her latest album 'Miss Anthropocene' on February 21 and it seems like a vision that extends beyond her previous releases. 'Miss Anthropocene', her fifth studio album, has been supercharged with more electronics, enriched in its synth-pop themes, and channels gorgeous atmospherics and imagery that could easily be translated as background scores for a sci-fi film.
The new album has come out five years after her 'Art Angels' release. Although 'Art Angels' applied more playful textures to it, Grimes has gone darker on the new LP. In an interview with Crack Magazine, Grimes, referring to her previous Instagram bio as "I pledge allegiance to the robot overlords", expressed her belief that A.I. dictatorship is humanity's last hope and went on to say that 'Miss Anthropocene' envisions “an evil album about how great climate change is.”
Grimes' unusual take on the world's climate change idea is not reflected at first in the new LP's musical and emotional stirrings, but rather in the lyrics. She has created a cyberpunk and sci-fi world parallel to our own which subtly suggests impending doom (and relishes on the thought). Lyrics like "Imminent annihilation sounds so dope" from 'My Name is Dark' and "So I pray, but the world burns" in 'New Gods' reveal as much.
We are all transposed to otherworldly realms as Grimes gives a slight alteration in her vocals from her previous albums with an echoing high-pitched whale-like communiqué in the majority of the 'Miss Anthropocene' songs.
The first track on the new LP, titled 'So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth' was released before the album in November and immediately ejects you into the album's overall musical theme. As stated before, the album pushes sci-fi elements, and 'So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth' quickly reminds one of the films like 'Blade Runner' 2049 (2017) as soon as you hit play. Grimes' vocals transform the song into something sweeter as the song progresses and rather than placing us in a dystopian city, it feels like we are left floating in space in a 'Blade Runner 2049'-ish universe.
'Darkseid' comes in like the female counterpart of a Nine Inch Nails song with its metallic instrumentals, grunge atmosphere, and features Taiwanese-rapper 潘PAN.
Apart from the lyrics, Grimes' music brings strong storytelling in the score alone. The imagery her songs create feel like the music should get its own lore. 'Delete Forever' gets an immediate redirect from the majority of her songs. Coming off as country music in space, with a banjo playing as the lead instrument, and Grimes taking her echoing vocals on the lower notes this time, we can safely call this "space country".
Grimes shows off her love for anime as she sits like a sci-fi queen in space on a throne very similar to Akira's throne found in the 'Akira' comics.
Grimes sings like an enchantress in '4ÆM' with very high vocals behind ethnic rhythms and the song takes a surprising turn into a techno, drum and bass beat on the chorus. It is very hard to find a song like it and Grimes shows off her abilities to tap into unique music production. The song is rich with background instrumentals and vocals that create a tapestry of music and one may not notice without paying attention. It is intelligent, fast and devilishly sneaky.
Not every song is dark on the album, playing on minor chords, but Grimes has given a clever juxtaposition from song-to-song from darker, metallic sounds to sweeter, softer tones. 'IDORU' pushes all things sweet in a k-pop-like ballad, with lyrics like "I wanna play a beautiful game, Even though we're gonna lose, But I adore you", although Grimes vocals get a Celtic twist at the end.
Grimes has transcended her music on 'Miss Anthropocene' and portrays as an awakening of sorts. Although the issues of climate change are not directly tackled on the album, Grimes has taken us into the future with subtle messages. Rather than getting us to take things at face value, she impresses on her listeners the need to peek through the wild colors, high fashion and cybernetic musical programming to find a message of change locked deeply beneath. 'Miss Anthropocene' is the dark matter with sharp pinpricks of hope.