Visions

名立たるメディアの年間ベストを総なめ!グライムスが世界的ブレイクを果たした記念すべき3rdアルバムのアナログ盤!(2012年作品)英名門レーベル＜4AD＞移籍第一弾アルバム!

Rolling Stone (p.71) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Cooked up at home using GarageBand, it's full of atmospheric electro-soul music, poked and prodded by unsettling beats and effects." Uncut (p.79) - "[T]hese delicately loopy cooings are a filigreed echo-chamber of everything from Sally Shapiro's indie-Italo house to K-pop girlgroups..." Billboard (p.32) - "In the song 'Eight' she channels the bratty vocal approach of 'Like a Virgin'-era Madonna, but then layers her singing over a lopsided robo-funk groove."

On Visions, Claire Boucher turns the unmistakable sound she forged on Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, where songs hovered in space one moment and hit the dancefloor in the next, into a blueprint for forward-thinking pop in the 2010s. Though her wispy vocals and four-on-the-floor beats still define her third album, she adds more elements, more ambition, and frequently, more fun to her music; on sparkly tracks like Eight, where shes shadowed by robotic backing vocals, she sounds like an alien princess. The way she combines and reimagines familiar sounds -- dream pop, synth pop, R&B, and house are just a few of the styles she touches on -- often dazzles. Genesis begins with what sounds like the ethereal atmospheres of old-school sounds of her label 4AD before coalescing into irresistibly bouncy pop. Boucher performs a similar trick on the brilliant Oblivion, which sets lyrics inspired by a sexual assault to deceptively radiant synth pop buoyed by an insistent, instantly recognizable bass line. While Visions songs are still largely free from obvious structures -- Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U) segues into a minor-key passage like a dream turning dark -- Boucher has learned the values of space and control, as the intricate layers within Infinite Love Without Fulfillment and Visiting Statue attest. And though Know the Way and Skin spotlight Grimes flair for ethereal sensuality, Visions most kinetic songs are the most distinctive, and allow her to draw on many different influences and sounds. Be a Body boasts a surprisingly funky bass line; on Circumambient, the songs shadowy R&B leanings are only heightened when Boucher busts out a super-soprano trill that would do Syreeta or Minnie Riperton proud. When she borrows from 80s pop, it never feels slavish, even when she uses frosty Casios on Vowels = Space and Time or lets Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) ride on a beat that sounds borrowed from When Doves Cry. Instead, these retro winks end up bringing out the darkly rhapsodic, kinetic heart of Bouchers music as much as the Asian-tinged melodies, harps, and operatic samples she uses elsewhere. Though little sounded like it when it was released, the impact of Visions futuristic fantasies was felt, and heard, for years to come.

Though the term witch house is often thrown around too loosely (and often derisively), Grimes wispy vocals and four-on-the-floor beats are probably the closest to what the style would sound like if its name were taken literally. On Visions, Claire Boucher develops the unmistakable sound she forged on Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, where her songs hovered in space one moment and hit the dancefloor in the next. The baby-ghost vocalizing that was so distinctive and divisive there is here as well, and Boucher sounds especially like an alien pop princess on sparkly tracks like Infinite Love Without Fulfillment, Genesis, and Eight, where shes shadowed by robotic backing vocals. While Visions songs are still largely free from obvious structures -- Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U) segues into a minor-key passage like a dream turning dark -- Boucher has learned the values of space and control, and gives more focus to her ethereal whimsy. While the glowing, sensuous Skin and Know the Way are fine examples of 2010s dream pop, unlike many of her contemporaries, Grimes most danceable songs are her most unique, and allow her to draw on many different influences and sounds. Be a Body boasts a surprisingly funky bassline, and on Circumambient, the songs shadowy R&B leanings are only heightened when Boucher busts out a super-soprano trill that would do Syreeta or Minnie Riperton proud. Similarly, her nods to 80s pop never feel too slavishly indebted to that decade, even when she uses stiff synth string stabs on Oblivion or frosty Casios on Vowels = Space and Time, or lets Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) ride on a beat that sounds borrowed from When Doves Cry. Instead, these retro winks end up bringing out the darkly rhapsodic, kinetic heart of Grimes music as much as the Asian-tinged melodies, harps, and operatic samples she uses elsewhere. Fresh and surprisingly accessible despite its quirks, Visions is bewitching. ~ Heather Phares

オドロオドロしいイメージが先行していたので、当初はウィッチ・ハウス一派という印象でしたが、キュートなルックスも手伝って、イマじゃ立派なポップ・アイコンのグライムス。ところが彼女自身は何の変化もなく、このニュー・アルバムでも幽玄でゴシックな世界観を貫き、和声を活かしたヴォーカルやダンサブルなビートで、不気味さと親しみやすさを同居させる唯我独尊な状態です。ますますハマりそう……。
bounce (C)青木正之