Savannah Stopover preview: Grimes

The solo artist Claire Boucher — better known as Grimes — has been attracting all sorts of praise for her new album Visions.

The New York Times calls it “easily Ms. Boucher’s best work and one of the most impressive albums of the year so far. Ms. Boucher is jubilant here, her multitracked vocals (which can recall Julianna Barwick) both an effective sonic strategy and also an emotional one. She has a lovely coo to her voice, especially on “Be a Body.” And she flaunts a range of influences, as on “Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U),” which seemingly owes debts to both Bollywood playback singers and Siouxsie Sioux.”

From Billboard:

Boucher says Visions was crafted in fits of unfulfilled desire-wanting to be home while on the road, needing to leave when she got back, then missing home again. “That sounds so negative,” she says. “I’m actually not a particularly negative person, but I feel like most things are better when they’re not actualized. The motivation that comes from wanting something is so much more driving of people than actually getting it.”

Though the word “ethereal” is often attached to her music, the tag, especially on Visions, feels somewhat wrong. It may sound otherworldly, but Boucher’s meticulous layering of R&B-tinged synths and pulsating industrial beats, all topped off with her stunning voice, grounds her music in something all too human.

Click here to view the new video for “Oblivion”.

I’ve previously posted “Vanessa”:

Grimes – Vanessa (Arbutus/Hippos and Tanks 2011) from Grimes69 on Vimeo.

Grimes will be playing the Savannah Stopover at 10 p.m. on Friday, March 9 at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts. Born Gold will be opening the show at 9 p.m.

Here’s Born Gold with “Lawn Knives”:

Lawn Knives from Born Gold on Vimeo.