Visions
by Grimes

Visions is a contagion. An album I "should" have grown tired of after the hundredth listen. How an album with such rudimentary arpeggiated sounds and hard to discern vocals can devour my brain like the myth of the carnivorous earwhig is beyond me. Maybe I should just enjoy the album and not overthink it, but maybe part of my enjoyment comes from the enigma itself. Regardless, "Visions" remains on repeat years later.

Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes is an artist that was firmly under the radar. I didn’t know who she was. But from reading a bit from those that are familiar with her previous works, it seems that Visions isn’t a particularly surprising album, despite its unique style. Boucher is attracting a lot of comparisons to the excellent John Maus, but seems to draw strong influences from Kate Bush and Aphex Twin as well. This presents a sound that is going to be jarring to a lot of people, so don’t expect the album to sound like Youth Lagoon. More importantly, don’t be upset when it doesn’t.

Visions begins with an intro track which leads into “Genesis” (which may well be the song of the year through February). After that, you get a pretty good idea of what Grimes is trying to do: make some unique pop with whatever brand of vocals fit that particular song, the use of electronics and a keen ear for danceable percussion. Danceable, but also robotic, though not in a bad way. She rarely utilizes both bass and drum beats simultaneously, which becomes more obvious around the middle of Visions. This results in the beats sounding broken and cold. They also don’t change up much within a song, but they know how to hook, which creates a pleasant, entrancing contrast between the always beautiful vocals and the mechanical instrumentation.

The album is experimental in nature, but it doesn’t change up a whole lot in its style. It gets a bit monotonous in the middle, but picks it back up starting with “Symphonia IX” and finishes strong.

After receiving a favorable review from a certain publication, Boucher is certain to become the Next Big Thing. At least for a little while. It’s an album with a very distinctive sound and a couple of gems, but it’s still a try-before-you-buy. Some people won’t be able to stand it. But if they put in the effort, most should find it rewarding.

From mayonaise93 05/10/2012 11:14 | #41968 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This girl has some serious talent. Too bad people won't start appreciating this album for another 20 years. Grimes is on to something and I wouldn't be surprised if she takes the world by storm in the near future.

On one hand, this is (often) catchy pop music with some beautiful passages. On the other hand, it's antiseptic, inoffensive, trendy background music for a generation of insular, apathetic, urban airbnbheads doing instagram poses with glitter in their beards. Overall, I find the album kind of boring. I can't give it much of my attention for very long. I think it could have been a very good 5-song EP with just the good songs, disposing of the rest. Her next album had a little more going on.

'Visions' is an incredibly creative and intriguing artpop/electronica album. Most of the tracks include catchy beats and abstract lyrics that define Claire Boucher's unique style. 'Oblivion' is a song I can listen to over and over and not get tired of. The only critique I have of the album is that at times Claire's high-pitched vocals distract from the other aspects of the music, a prime example being the song 'Eight.' However, this is still a very enjoyable listen and I'd recommend it to all fans of indie and electronic music. My favorite tracks are 'Oblivion,' 'Nightmusic,' and 'Be a Body.'

8.5/10