On Friday 21st February, Grimes released her highly anticipated 5th album and 3rd on 4AD Records MISS ANTHROPOCENE The album title stems from the words Misanthrope, “a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society” and Anthropocene, “the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.” This culminates to the title, Miss Anthropocene, meaning “The Goddess of Climate Crisis.”
Grimes hinted at pop sensibilities with ‘GO’ a single written for Rihanna that preceded her last album, the upbeat euphoric ‘Art Angels’ On ‘Miss Anthropocene’ Grimes deconstructs everything she built up towards and presents a more sombre yet ultimately sophisticated album that actually reveals her as a fully realised bona fide pop star.
‘We Appreciate Power’ her guitar fuelled anthem about capitulating to AI supremacy doesn’t feature on the new record but created the foundation of it’s themes and ideology.
AI overlords and climate change aren’t the only inspirations, ‘So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth’ a dreamy electronic lullaby is actually about how women become domesticated through patriarchal control.
Grimes often presents her vocals swathed in effects and somewhat buried in the mix but on ‘Delete Forever’ a breezy joyous track about the perils of addiction we hear her loud and clear, confidently singing “I can’t see above it, guess I fucking love it”
While this may read as contrived and overtly pretentious the actual songs are amongst the best of her career, standout tracks include Violence, My Name Is Dark and You’ll miss me when I’m not around which is centred around a bouyant bass riff.
Miss Anthropocene may not be the best entry point for Grimes but it is a rich accomplished album that may well be her masterpiece.
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