Grimes Talks Her 'Visions'

BY Cam LindsayPublished Feb 13, 2012

In the past couple months, Grimes, aka Montreal's Claire Boucher, has made some serious waves, landing spots of countless "what to look forward to in 2012" lists (including our own) and signing an international deal with the highly influential 4AD.

On February 21, Grimes will release her new album Visions via Arbutus Records in Canada and 4AD elsewhere. While her discography will list it as her her third full-length, Boucher argues that to her it's more like her proper debut.

"This is the first album that had a lot of intention behind it," she tells Exclaim! "And it was the first album where I was able to think of something I wanted to do and then be able to do it. Whereas the other albums were more accidental. I would screw around and just keep the first vocal take on the record."

Boucher says that 2010's Geidi Primes and Halfaxa were made thinking that they would never be heard by many outside of her circle of friends.  

"The first couple records I wasn't even thinking people would be listening to them," she says. "With Visions there is definitely an awareness that people will hear it. It was produced on a deadline, unlike before, where it was me saying, 'I made this record Seb [Cowan of Arbutus], do you want to put it out?'"

In addition to the intent, Grimes adds that the music also better represents where she is as an artist.

"I really just think it's more coherent," she says. "Instead of just ambient, aimless mush, it's 'I'm going to bring back the chorus now because I understand what a chorus is now.'"

Seeing as Visions is her fourth release in just two years (counting last year's split album with d'Eon, Darkbloom), Grimes says she hopes to continue her steady streak of releasing new music and says the next thing we hear from her will mark a shift in sound.  

"I'm really going into an industrial phase," she admits. "Everything I've made so far is under the influence of Nine Inch Nails and Jedi Mind Tricks, instrumentally. Jedi Mind Tricks always have these weird, sad vocalizations that happen behind the lyrics."

As previously reported, Grimes kicks off her North American tour in Vancouver on February 18. You can see the full list of dates here.

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