Miss Anthropocene - Grimes: Review
is a Canadian electro pop artist who has transformed from a quirky girl next door into a dystopian industrialist in the 5 years since her last record. Grimes first blew up off of 2012' Visions a critically acclaimed record that features some well received singles like Oblivion and Genesis. She followed this up with an even more popular and acclaimed record three years later with Art Angels but now five years out the public perception of Grimes has changed drastically, and so has the expectations for her music.
Review By Lavender:
I've always enjoyed Grimes music from the very first time I caught Oblivion on an indie music blog back in the day. I used to be incredibly invested in her public persona, and the way her personality came out in her music, which made me worried after she seemed to do one sketchy thing after another in the years leading up to this record. Despite her public image I had a feeling she would return with some fantastic music and I was right, but it came with an odd complaint I didn't expect to have.
Five of the records ten songs were released as singles so it was pretty clear what the sound of the record would be like and it holds true. The lead single Violence is a real treat that landed on my Singles Of The Year List last year, it still sounds fantastic here. The track pairs soaring vocal harmonies with bombastic electronic beats that just take over my mind and makes me want to join Grimes' army of drone followers. So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth was the next single and while it didn't blow me away I do think its a pretty good start to the record. The track certainly has its moments with distant pounding percussion and high pitched vocals as well as a few catchy refrains dusted across the track. For all of the building up the track does over the course of about six minutes I wish there was a more tangible payoff because the track never really knocks me off my feet and kind of fades into nothing at the end.
The third single pops up in the second half of the record and still sounds as solid as it did when I first heard it. My Name Is Dark has a pretty great hook and some charming girlish vocals. I wish the instrumental did a little bit more particularly on the verses, but the explosion into the hook is very satisfying and ties the track together around a strong moment. The last pair of singles really got the album release rolling as I really enjoyed them both. 4 AM is an absolute BANGER that I liked as a single but I absolutely love it on the album. The jittery up-tempo beat is thrilling and the softer moments are lit up by Grimes beautiful vocal harmonies. The hook is absolute butter and paired with the dramatic explosion of sound it all comes at the absolute perfect time. The song is just a straight up jam. The final single was one I also really enjoyed in Delete Forever. The song is a cute predominately acoustic cut that is catchy from start to finish. The singing is muted but effective and the guitar tones are consistently pretty. The track reminds me of California from Grimes last record, and for all the right reasons.
So with half the record out as singles it was off to a pretty good start, and while the rest of the album isn't perfect it does have some more highlights. New Gods is an absolutely killer dystopian ballad that comes off surprisingly well. Grimes is distant but commanding in her vocals and the song has a really tangible progression both thematically and instrumentally that keeps me really engaged. The reverb heavy walls of sound that make up the backing track are a perfect pairing for the song and it all just works well together. You'll Miss Me When I'm Not Around features some of the least obstructed vocals Grimes delivers anywhere on the record and she is really out here sounding like a main pop girl. Her voice more than holds up across the track and while it isn't the deepest or most complex here Grimes totally shines and it makes for a really cool moment.
Before The Fever is a cool track that has some incredible tension as Grimes calls out the end of the world repeatedly. The song has yet another massive explosion of sound into its hook but I really with Grimes had put a little more into the chorus. Her moaning over the track is fine at first but is being the only semblance of anything related to a hook on the track is super underwhelming. The closing track IDORU kicks off as a shimmering synth pop tune straight out of Art Angels. It's a bright love song and there are parts of it I really enjoy. I'm not sure I needed over seven minutes of the track though as the catchy and fun instrumental wears thin by the end of the song and it doesn't give much closure to the album. FInally Darkseid has the records lone new feature and I kind of wish it didn't. Both of the songs verses are given to an artist I'm not really familiar with and I'm not loving it. She has a big time baby voice that doesn't do a whole lot for me and I think the energy she is bringing totally clashes with everything else on the track. Grimes does sing a pretty cool eerie hook that is short but captivating, though she also spends the end of the track once again wandering looking for a new sound.
Miss Anthropocene is pretty good, but it is missing some qualities that could have made it incredible. For a start a few of these tracks simply go on for too long, and take up time on this already short record doing very little with already established refrains. Secondly the album has almost no sonic coherence, and while I hear lyrical themes popping up over and over again you really have to look hard for anything that gives these tracks any reason to go together. Finally the record as a whole just needs a bit more punch to it, which I never thought I'd say about a Grimes record. Compared to Art Angels this record is tame and very distant. Despite my complaints I really enjoyed a lot of the album and there wasn't really a single song that I flat out disliked. Plenty of spots on the album still clearly display how talented of a songwriter and performer Grimes is and even without the extra boost it could have had to make some of these songs better, the album is a tight and fantastic listening experience, I just can't help but wonder about what could have been. 8/10
