By Brian Conway
Grimes has always been one for the outlandish. She is commonly associated her with the more “artsy” side of pop music due to her sound and image, which stray from the norm and create a “love it or hate it” opinion of her. With her latest release, Art Angels, she keeps the weirdness but adds hints of mainstream pop appeal that latch onto you and leave you perplexed about what you just listened to.
The album starts off with the orchestral “laughing and not being human” followed by the ridiculously corny and upbeat “California”. Already we have an example of Grimes taking jabs at her critics, with two songs that sound like parodies of underground and mainstream pop, respectively. The bizarre does not stop there. “SCREAM” offers a rough, screech-filled rant done entirely by Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes. Grimes handles the production on this track, showing off her range of moods in the process.
The album really starts to take flight, though, with “Flesh without Blood” — the incredibly catchy lead single. Here Grimes takes a passive aggressive approach when discussing an ex-lover, delivering hauntingly beautiful melodies wrapped up in a radio-friendly chorus. It is without a doubt the easiest song on the record to digest, and the most memorable.
Another standout track is “Venus Fly,” an absolute banger in an album filled with curveballs. It manages to stand out with abrasive bass and a short-but-sweet bridge. Grimes ends the project on a high note, literally, with the candy-covered “Butterfly”. This blissful cut features soft, fairy-like vocals and dreamy production. The song’s last words are a summary of Grimes’ pop stardom as a whole, “If you’re looking for a dream girl/I’ll never be your dream girl”.
Art Angels is not the type of album an artist who cares about public opinion would make. This is a very personal record, as evidenced by the range of styles, lyrics and atmosphere. This is Grimes’ ultimate expression of her craft and how she feels about the music industry. She knows very well she is capable of producing Top 40 radio singles, but puts that aside for a shot at pop stardom carried solely on her own ambitions. This album will not be an easy listen for many, but the cutthroat aggression masked in pop purity is something you still need to admire from whatever distance you choose.
