Montreal-based musician Grimes aka Claire Boucher churns up wafts of magic potion for the ears. Her undulations seem vocally improvisational yet instrumentally calculated, her melodies dark yet liberating, meditative but danceable.She’s garnered quite a bit of attention over the last two years: releasing her first two albums for free, touring with Lykke Li last summer, and getting picked-up by 4AD. Now she’s preparing for the upcoming release of her fourth album Visions, out February 21st on 4AD and Arbutus Records—right before she tours North America and Europe.As a visual artist and filmmaker, she illustrates her spellbinding sonic landscapes in the second dimension, composing a captivating treat for the senses. We managed to pin her down to answer some of our questions about the genesis of “post-internet,” her influences, upcoming collaborations… and how exactly she makes what she does. We didn’t really get a straight answer, but that’s to be expected—a good magician never reveals her tricks.The Creators Project: You gave away your first two albums (Geidi Primes and Halfaxa) for free online, which is a very brave thing for a new-ish musician to do. What was your reasoning behind that decision?
Grimes: I believe all music should be free—I certainly obtain a lot of music for free. It was just a gift I felt like giving. I certainly didn’t expect anyone would ever buy it, either (laughs). But I understand the reasoning behind selling music, and I do relish being able to survive off something I feel passionate about. It was also just a great marketing tactic—if it’s a free record people will listen to it, and if no one knows who the fuck you are, that’s great for you.What can we expect from your new album?
I hate the idea of expectation potentially changing the way that something is listened to or perceived, but I guess you could say it’s an avant-pop album. Something like future pop. It’s hyper emotional—hyper-condensed emotions, there’s not a minute spared of that. It arcs. Beginning carefree, ecstatic—maintaining the effect but lyrically growing dark. The first songs are really imbued with how beautiful if feels to create music. As it moves along it get’s more intense, and aggressive, and weird, less straightforward pop. To me it culminates at “Be A Body” and then starts to unravel. It ends sadly, the conclusion is a realization of loneliness.Read the rest at Creators Project.
Grimes: I believe all music should be free—I certainly obtain a lot of music for free. It was just a gift I felt like giving. I certainly didn’t expect anyone would ever buy it, either (laughs). But I understand the reasoning behind selling music, and I do relish being able to survive off something I feel passionate about. It was also just a great marketing tactic—if it’s a free record people will listen to it, and if no one knows who the fuck you are, that’s great for you.What can we expect from your new album?
I hate the idea of expectation potentially changing the way that something is listened to or perceived, but I guess you could say it’s an avant-pop album. Something like future pop. It’s hyper emotional—hyper-condensed emotions, there’s not a minute spared of that. It arcs. Beginning carefree, ecstatic—maintaining the effect but lyrically growing dark. The first songs are really imbued with how beautiful if feels to create music. As it moves along it get’s more intense, and aggressive, and weird, less straightforward pop. To me it culminates at “Be A Body” and then starts to unravel. It ends sadly, the conclusion is a realization of loneliness.Read the rest at Creators Project.