Visions

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