By Alex La Loggia
The tales surrounding the third album by Canadian electronic art-pop Grimes are almost as known
as the haunting album itself. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the groundbreaking project, and still
I read the repeated story of the album whenever “Oblivion” is featured in a TikTok. Today’s internet is
no stranger to Claire Boucher – whether through her relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk or her
semi-mainstream status. But a decade ago, she was an internet figure essentially existing in minor music
sharing communities. This changed when Grimes set out on her most ambitious (and potentially
damaging) project to date. She locked herself in a dark room for weeks, armed with her iPad and
keyboard, and created Visions.
Visions is less of an album than it is a cosmic story. Fitting, coming from a creator who has been
compared to aliens, angels, and robots alike. Despite this, the album is one of the most human I’ve
listened to, though it can feel strangely distant – like a recollection of earthly emotion from an
extraterrestrial being. Each track is soaked with love, fear, and contemplation of physical (or non-physical)
existence, and longing – for other people or for a home. Backing these tracks is a steady stream of synths
and manipulated echoes. Perhaps most striking is Claire’s voice – her high-pitched yet soft tone is layered
and emotional on one track and synthetic on the next.
On my favorite track, “Skin”, Claire utilizes these gentle yet chilling vocals. She asks a lost lover
to come back “so I know I can be human once again”. There’s more soft repetition, and lyrics proclaiming a
loss of sight and emotion. It feels like someone fearing a loss of physical and emotional humanity and
longing for the confirmation that can only be brought by others. I first listened to Grimes at the beginning
of the pandemic, and this song and album resonated with the loneliness I was feeling from isolation.
Today, I have the same love for her music. Visionsstill feels as fresh and genre-bending as it was
ten years ago. Grimes is set to release a new album soon, and perhaps this unique genius can once again
offer us something that defines a decade of electronic pop.
