Music
Grimes lives up to the moment, with a performance that shows how lucky we are to have her.
Claire Boucher is having a moment. The Vancouver, British Columbia-born 27-year-old artist emerged back in 2012 with "Visions," a broken, surreal pop record that catapulted her Grimes project to the top of critic’s lists everywhere. However she’s stayed mostly quiet since then. According to interviews over the last couple years Boucher recorded and subsequently scrapped an entire album’s worth of material. Her reasoning? “It sucked.”
But now she’s swallowed her anxieties and has a sophomore effort at the ready. "Art Angels" drops Nov. 6, and her show with Nicole Dollanganger Monday night at the Mayan (the second show in Red Bull Sound Select Presents: 30 Days in LA, the annual concert series) felt a little bit like a coming out party. When Boucher first became famous she was just a goofy DIY kid, piecing together homemade beats and spooky groves. These days she’s inked to Jay Z’s Roc Nation with enough bankroll to hire her own backup dancers. As a whole, "Art Angels" sounds much more thoroughly produced than anything else in the Grimes catalog, which is most likely a product of recording in a real studio.
First, there was Nicole Dollanganger, a singer and producer from Ontario, Canada, who counts Grimes as one of her biggest fans, so much so that Grimes started a record label, Eerie Organization, specifically to put out Dollanganger’s record "Natural Born Losers."
Dollanganger shares some of Grimes’ sensibilities, but writes much, much darker songs. Her fragile voice scrapes along desecrated guitars, unleashing some truly vicious lyrics — think if Joni Mitchell collaborated with Coil. The set was a stark contrast to the dusky dance party that would follow, which actually made it pretty distinct.
The Grimes live experience is always delectably candid. Boucher arrived in kaleidoscope hair and butterfly wings, immediately submerging the audience in the murky grooves of “Genesis.” She dances with complete and utter freedom; part boy band, part mosh, part hyperspeed anime. Watching someone work keyboards and MPCs is scarcely entertaining, but Grimes always remembers that all eyes are on her, even if it leaves her out of breath at every break. Boucher talks to her audience without any facade, she’s affable, informative and deeply, deeply friendly. It’s an attitude that’s made Grimes such an important part of music over the last few years.
Grimes offered a healthy dose of old "Visions" cuts, but the new songs, such as the recently shared “SCREAM” or “Flesh without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream,” came with slightly more oomph. Still distinctly Grimes, but with a nice Top-40 sheen. One of the most impressive moments of the night was her performance of "Venus Fly," featuring Janelle Monae, which sounded like a bloody, take-no-prisoners rave, totally ungluing the room in the process. If Boucher’s goal last night was to send everyone home giddily excited about the new album, then she absolutely succeeded.
Grimes is an icon now. Claire Boucher is a household name, and her stock will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. However, even as her music becomes more mainstream friendly, she’ll never stop being the wonderful, passionate, easy-going weirdo we saw last night. We’re living in a world where our pop stars can be odd little otaku nerds who know exactly who they want to be. There’s so much cynical posturing in the music business, but Grimes is a worthy role model. We’re truly lucky to have her.
More: Everything You Need to Know About 30 Days in LA