Review Summary: Art Angels is a promise to future growth from a transformed but undeniably Grimey Grimes
Claire Boucher's personality seems to be intrinsically contrary to the Grimes before
Art Angels who was a strange but confident imagining of herself, while Claire herself, although quirky, is extremely sensitive and shy, maybe even insecure – a far cry from the reassured and apathetic to whether people will enjoy the music attitude shown in the strange subjects, which lacked substance but sounded phenomenal, she indulgently embraced three years ago.
To me,
Art Angels is Claire's way of merging herself with Grimes. She ventures outside the bedroom to explore the “real” world, where she surpasses the cold and impersonal nature defining her prior releases, through which she has undoubtedly improved, refined the sound for which she was known, and learned how to construct memorable melodies instead of relying on atmosphere to push them forward. But on the way to
Art Angels she cast off the detached nature surrounding
Visions, consequently finding herself stuck at a crossroads, where she could have either followed the same vein of the polished yet misunderstood
Visions – complete with slurred, infantile singing and lackluster songwriting – or stretched out of her comfort zone, where she hid behind the mysterious but intriguing Grimes, to expose more of the Claire in Grimes. She chose the latter which has manifested into a mostly playful and emphatically poppy group of songs. As expected, the risk which comes with significant departures from original sound is present in
Art Angels; it has noticeable flaws and sometimes points to typical vapidity, dividing the album into two camps: the first is fresh and innocent with catchy-hooked pop tracks; the second is either excessively saccharine or downright irritating.
Opener “laughing and not being normal” firmly places itself in the first camp. It is a pretty prelude for what is to follow on
Art Angels; it immediately has Claire ditching unintelligible utterances for beautifully clear phrases, thereby permitting sufficient self-expression – a welcome change from
Visions. Although not overly catchy, “laughing and not being normal” combines cinematic strings with dreamy, resounding vocals giving off a reverie-like atmosphere and exciting listeners for the rest of
Art Angels. However, as immediately as “laughing and not being normal” entices, Grimes is “carried away” in “California.” If anything, "California" reinforces the negativity she apparently received in California with a grating chorus that almost makes me wish she'd return to childish slurring. However, songs such as “Flesh Without Blood,” “Kill V Maim,” and “World Princess Part II” show how successful she can be with strong lyricism and booming but unapologetically catchy and danceable choruses. In them she incorporates punchier guitar- and drum-work with the vocals rising above, effectively keeping the tracks very Grimes from the unexpected grunting on “Kill V Maim” to the characteristically high and breathy vocal-work throughout “World Princess Part II.”
When she focuses on the voice rather than instrumentation, bringing acoustic piano and guitar to the forefront on “Easily” and “Life in a Vivid Dream,” the result is decent but unmemorable – pretty but missing the biting lyrics and overwrought-with-emotion vocals needed to make them stand out.
Nonetheless, the gems shine in this decidedly rough package, competently outweighing the lackluster moments. Although the album is largely hit or miss in terms of the big chorus tracks, the inconsistency is reflective of the change Grimes – the artist – is undergoing. In “REALiTi” she sings “welcome to reality” as though she is finally embracing who she is meant to be. In
Art Angels Grimes has taken liberties to explore the many sides of herself she wishes to elucidate unlike in
Visions where she mainly stayed in the same lane. Therefore, despite flaws,
Art Angels is a promise to a future of improved music and greater authenticity. Claire has simply scratched the surface.
