Grimes’ fifth album, Miss Anthropocene, is out via 4AD. The ten track work shines through as Grimes’ experimentation with music comes to fruition and establishes itself as its own memorable album apart from Art Angels and Oblivion.
The title is a combination of “misanthrope” and “Anthropocene”, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
“It’s a concept album about the anthropomorphic Goddess of climate Change: A psychedelic, space-dwelling demon/ beauty-Queen who relishes the end of the world. She’s composed of Ivory and Oil,” Grimes said in an Instagram post.
The album opens with “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth”, establishing the ethereal and otherworldly setting of the premise. The calming synths only serve as a teaser for what’s to come, as the tone shifts with “Darkseid” (featuring 潘PAN), which hits hard with a dark, rhythmic beats and heavy bass.
This is soon subverted in “Delete Forever”, a light, poppy tune disguising a bleak message lyrically about the opioid epidemic and how it personally affected Grimes. The remainder of the album continues to showcase Grimes’ evolution as a songwriter and producer after Art Angels with memorable melodies and lyricism.
“Violence” has been analyzed as the representation of the relationship between the earth and climate change due to its lyrical content (You wanna make me bad, make me bad / And I like it like that, and I like it like that), however, Grimes stated in the editors’ notes via Apple Music: “Everyone’s like, ‘What’s the meaning? What’s the vibe?’ And honestly, it was just really fucking fun to make. I know that’s not good, that everyone wants deeper meanings and emotions and things, but sometimes just the joy of music is itself a really beautiful thing.” Even without a solid meaning, the track flows well with its darkwave-esque vibe.
While the album delves into genres like darkwave and industrial, some songs keep the pop and dancy tone that Grimes is known for. This genrefluidity works well, proving that Grimes is capable of pushing her own musical boundaries and is not afraid to conform to a single style.
Miss Anthropocene shines through as Grimes’ experimentation with music coming to fruition and establishes itself as its own memorable album apart from Art Angels and Oblivion.
By Andrea Sandoval