Canadian songstress Grimes is back with her 4th studio album “Art Angels”. The album is roughly 50 minutes and 14 tracks in length. We are not here to discuss this in context of her signing a Roc Nation distribution deal or her previous albums. We broke the project down song by song to tell you exactly how worthwhile this project is sonically in a vacuum.
1. “laughing and not being normal”
Celestial strings that frolic throughout are the beginning. It continually builds up until everything drops out for Grimes ridiculously sweet falsetto vocals that have made fans of many a listener. A piano grooves along to set a somber but playful mood; one could say this is something of Grimes’ signature style.
2. “California”
‘This music makes me cry,
it sounds just like my soul
Oh I’m not ready to win
Oh lord cause I don’t wanna know what they say
Cause I get carried away
Commodifying all the pain’
The beginning “Do, Do, Do’s” the acoustic guitars drenched in reverb, Grimes just sounds like she’s from the future.
The lyrics suggest Grimes has encountered cruel people out here in this inauthentic, seemingly fake world. “You only like me when you think I’m looking sad, California, I didn’t think you’d end up treating me so bad” she yells in her stunning voice, the allusion points to that of a dream chaser being crushed by pessimistic, cynical suits who commodify Art. The song structure is absolutely brilliant and keeps the replay value very high especially since it’s definitely not actually about California.
3. “Scream” Feat Aristophanes
I found out Aristophanes is a Taiwanese rapper. Which is cool and kind of explains why the whole song is in Chinese; but that kinda dampened my enjoyment along with the heavy screams (Grimes sole vocal contribution here) that seem to be influenced by Heavy Metal. The production was super encapsulating with a slick electric guitar at the beginning but it just deteriorated by the end and kinda went a weird direction.
4. “Flesh without Blood”
This is more “classic” Grimes in that it is retro sounding SynthPop with her lush falsetto harmonies leading the way for an upbeat dance anthem. The lyrics talk of a wasted love interest who she gave “every chance” but couldn’t treat her properly. The beat has an 80s stadium music feel in it’s syncopation (ala an A-Ha or U2) and uses her unique female lyrics to smoothen it out and fade into breakdowns and drops. Her blend of smart songwriting, retro/classic production aesthetic, & purposeful vocals shines once again.
5. “Belly of the Beat”
“Belly of the Beat” is a smooth breakbeat track that keeps the mood uptempo. Grimes is a freaking master of vocal inflections and showcases it on this track; barely needing any lyrics to get her point across, most of the time she’s just pronouncing the word “I” in different manners. The lyrics are dark when they do appear though:
‘I could leave the world today
Everybody dies, we cut out their eyes and we dance like angels do
Breaking our name in a world that feigns some knowledge of you’
Once you realize what she’s saying the track is all of a sudden less pretty and much more… gruesome. My best guess for what she’s talking about is the heavy expectations that come with being a musician and the superficial/suicidal tendencies that accompany it.
6. “Kill V. Maim”
DIY Mag claimed “Kill V. Maim” is “A zombie disco, crazy cyborg of a pop song, it’s the furthest depth of Grimes’ imagination to have been exposed to date, and it’s impossible not to follow every move like watching a mad plot unfold.” The production is led by a ‘dirty’ guitar riff & even more of the anthemic percussion seen in previous tracks but this is the best execution of it so far. The breakdown pops out of nowhere and although its a bit lackluster vocally melody wise, it doesn’t take away from the song and the bit of distortion at the end gives the track a great final ‘disturbed’ feel.
7. “Artangels”
The albums title track is probably the most colorful track melodically; infusing 80s Pop grooves that you might hear in a Michael Jackson song with clever lyrics that reflect Pop musics common theme of “dancing all night” she torts in the outro “I don’t need your medicine
Gonna dance all night, I’m high on adrenaline,”. The song is supposedly an ode to Grimes’ hometown of Montreal. The track is one of her more lighthearted endeavors on the project as a result of her nostalgia and love for home i’m sure.
8. “Easily”
A lovely piano that sounds like Kate Nash but with cathedral reverb vocals instantly grabs the listeners ear. The song progresses into a hi hat led groove and judging from the lyrics seems to be something of a middle finger to people from her past who want to use her now that she’s made something of herself.
“Easily, I’m the sweetest damn thing you ever saw,
Easily, suddenly, you don’t know me at all,
Easily, three years later and now you wanna call”
I actually really enjoy how the song fades and goes into cool sound effects and relying on the production to lead the way; giving the project a breather from Grimes voice.
9. “Pin”
“Pin” has an awesome hush vocal effect on Grimes’ voice at the beginning and more contemporary production with some synths and a multitude of electric guitars playing up the beat and tempo.
I’ve not always been a fan of how hard it can be to understand what she is actually saying sometimes and this is really apparent on “Pin”. A look at the lyrics seems to show this is a break up/relationship track; “I fix him myself, falling way off course”. She seems to be sick of losing her investment in people, I think we all can relate.
10. “Realiti”
Some shaker & clap led percussion keeps the production spicy, around 1:20 Grimes launches into full on dream mode with her vocals; ironically taking you on a trip to “Realiti”. Definitely some of my favorite production on the album here with a synth line that plays off her voice perfectly at the end and really sets the tone for a truly dreamy track, even by Grimes’ standards.
11. “World Princess part II”
With 90s trip hop drums and Grimes perfectly suited piercing semitones she showcases a “cute” appeal that is so uniquely endearing to her that I think she is probably the only person alive who could pull this kind of song off and make it cool. If this song had a face it would have small eyes with giant pupils resembling a puppy dog.
12. “Venus Fly” Feat Janelle Monae
Janelle takes this track to talk about how everything she does musically is “Black Music” instead of just Music. She really takes the show with her strong content while Grimes holds down the chorus and backing vocals. The tracks breakdown is one of the better ones i’ve heard in a while for it’s creativity and ominous Violin.
13. “Life in the Vivid Dream”
An acoustic guitar and Grimes’ reverb drenched vocals lay a more distant and emotional track in “Life in the Vivid Dream”. The shortest track on the album unsurprisingly is the easiest to repeat, an ode to the environment apparently, Grimes is taking social climate issues to heart here.
14. “Butterfly”
“Butterfly” starts off with a warm sample that sounds like its from a soap commercial in the best way possible. Pan to Grimes’ vocals that jolt out of nowhere and details in her own words: “a song that’s from the perspective of a butterfly in the Amazon as people are cutting down trees”. She is something of a Druid (or as she puts it “faery”) with her love for trees and the outside world. This honestly explained so much to me about her sound as i’ve always thought of it being especially magical and spellbinding while drenched in nostalgia. She is a Siren, her beautiful voice could lead me to join any cause or take me away to any time period.
This album is F**king Dope simply put. Listen for yourself.
