Visions
Year: 2012
Format: NPR First Listen
Grade: B
Visions, the third album from Canadian synth pop singer Claire Boucher under the name Grimes, is a two-headed beast.
The record is front-loaded with some of its best tracks, including "Genesis," the best song here, which glides on a moody synth phrase and Boucher's fragile vocals. "Genesis" sets the tone for the six tracks, putting a futuristic, alien bent on '80s synth pop.
Things turn moody with the gloomy, two-minute-long "Visiting Statue."
Where the front half of Visions is joyous synth pop, the back half is more of a marriage of ambient and dream pop.
"Skin" comes near the end, a melancholy mood piece that is the highlight of the back side. There's a soothing quality in these tracks, but while they're more pleasing, they're also more forgettable.
The triumph of Visions is that it all holds together, a fact mostly owed to her production skills as well as her wispy voice.
Visions may recall the '80s, a decade of which I'm not fond, but at least it lacks the cheese of Bon Iver's "Beth/Rest."
Tomorrow's entry: Sleigh Bells, Reign of Terror
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