Let’s dive straight in. Claire Boucher has really pushed herself here. Art Angels is a colossal leap forward. Every aspect of Grimes’ work has been upped an insane amount of notches: vocals, production, live instrumentation, and lyrical perspective.
The monochrome electronics of Visions have been replaced with huge swashes of colour – pop-punk guitar lines, acoustic strings, piano and multi-faceted vocals all feature heavily. Grimes has created something entirely original, unexpected, and, given her fascination with popular music, strangely linear.
Above all else, Art Angels is fun, and that’s the album’s trump card.
The highlight of the 14 tracks is the relentless pop brilliance of ‘Kill V. Maim’. In fact, it’s the track of the year – an exhilarating joyride through K-pop and anime 10 to the darkest corners and howling screams of Boucher’s multi-personality imagination. Vocally, Grimes is at her absolute best, shape shifting from sweet to terrifying in an instant. The guttural screams at 33 seconds will stop you in your tracks. Sublime.
Art Angels is a staggeringly varied record: rescued from the cutting room floor, ‘Realiti’ could fit into the dancier Visions aesthetic; played loudly enough, ‘SCREAM’ (featuring Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes) is disturbingly claustrophobic; the ’90s-inspired ‘California’ (which could be a Katy Perry or Lana Del Ray track) is another belter; while ‘Flesh Without Blood’ is a perfectly layered slice of guitar-driven contemporary pop music.
It’s clear that Grimes has made an album for nobody but herself, and in doing so has taken huge risks. Thankfully, on Art Angels every one of those risks pay off.