Fresh and surprisingly accessible despite its quirks, Visions is bewitching.
She continues her march toward accessibility, rendering hazy, quixotic sketches into tangible, hook-heavy electro-pop.
Although Visions feels too light (but not lightweight) to indicate intentions on Boucher's part to create a record of capital-S Significance, ignoring Visions' considerable weight as a fully formed work of art discredits her achievement.
It's an album to live in and love, to dance to and to wallow in.
Grimes has crafted a confident, moving and immersive work that not only seeks to break down the schism between Pop and Rock, but also makes a bold statement for female musicians who have their own unique visions and struggle to see them realized in an industry and genre continually dominated by men.
There's no doubt that Visions is an excellent album. Though it may be Boucher's third proper LP as Grimes, it sounds like the debut of a young artist, which is to say there are some missteps—albeit a rare occurrence.
Visions, Boucher’s fourth formal release in just under two years and the best thing she’s yet put her name to by far, is very likely to be weird music’s worldwide coming out party.
Visions finds Boucher mining not just the clean brightness of Aphex Twin-like atmospherics but also the immediacy of straight-up mall-pop
She’s got her own dreamy, glitchy art-pop. And yes, she’s still cooler than you.
Maybe the best thing about Visions is that it makes it clear that with Grimes, questions of whether she’ll become another personality for us to howl over are beside the point; she’s exported to all of us her very compelling way of seeing, and now everyone has the chance to experience that too.
It's fit to burst with bone-bending synths, insistent beats and a sometimes shrill vocal that manages to both charm and unsettle.
Grimes just raised the bar even further with her richly textured and inventive new album (the third in just two years).
What makes Visions so flavoursome is that it’s accessible, it’s music that isn’t being wilfully difficult: the ingredients are tricksy, odd and sometimes incongruous, but their sum total is very approachable.
Visions comes with a parade of deadly wee songs which originate from much the same rhythm'n'bleeps' hinterland as previous records such as Halifaxa, but Boucher has simplified and fine-tuned her approach to ensure each one sticks like glue.
Visions’ rebellious contrariness to evade classification is part of the design and certainly part of the charm.
It’s like skipping through a thousand excellent tracks on your iPod shuffle and isolating 13 perfect moments.
Visions is beautifully conceived and executed, musically, lyrically and thematically.
Delicious yet uncomplicated, satisfying but hardly filling, Visions showcases an artist with clear talent and potential.
Were this an EP, it might have been a perfect release, but as it stands Visions, while improving on previous work, is not yet the career defining moment that Boucher seemed to suggest it might be.
Everything on Visions smells crisp and clean, doused in eco-friendly laundry detergent; there is no stench of compromise here.
As time wears on you start to feel that things are a bit too ethereal, as ideas fall short of solidifying into concrete hooks and structures begin to feel just slightly aimless
Visions is a remarkable outing for Boucher in that it manages to showcase her knack for spinning bits and pieces from all points on the musical spectrum into crafty, easily digestible pop.
Boucher's talent lies in the balance of exploiting her gifts and leveraging what's come before her, but judiciously.
Grimes could very well do okay with this new album as a track like “Oblivion” clearly stands out, but I’d be surprised if it broke through with any significant notoriety, but that’s not to say that she can’t in the future.
Her third album is a beguiling decoction of pretty much everything going on in hipster musical circles, sweet and savvy and scary at the same time.
On the third album to come from the Canadian synth pop project Grimes, the songs feel a little undercooked--however, I will this this project has a nice, clear sound and style.
Visions isn’t as much of an evolution as it is an elongation
Thanks to the goat @Deton, I got recommended to check out Grimes for the first time! I never listened to her before, so this will be my introduction. I picked this album because I got told that I most likely won't like the other ones, and it's also the most popular one. The genre tags also intrigued me, as a big fan of Synthpop, I'm always down for releases from that genre that I haven't discovered yet, with Ethereal Wave and Indietronica elements added to it too, this sounded promising all ... read more
2012 ✅
Thank god 2012 is over...man. This year was rather aggravating to get through. Sure, it gave me some absolute gems, but some absolutely disappointing and mediocre records as well.
Regardless! Visions, despite the year and it’s subpar appeal to me, has possibly marked a turning point in my taste without a doubt. Typically my taste remains quite rock solid along with how I consume music, but after hearing Visions I had a small revelation about my view of music.
See, I was ... read more
Grimes showcases her unique sound on her third studio album with her distinct voice, her beautiful synths and her creative production.
highlights: genesis, skin, oblivion, be a body
meh: nightmusic, eight
1 | Infinite ❤ Without Fulfillment 1:35 | 74 |
2 | Genesis 4:15 | 92 |
3 | Oblivion 4:11 | 94 |
4 | Eight 1:47 | 74 |
5 | Circumambient 3:43 | 83 |
6 | Vowels = Space and Time 4:21 | 82 |
7 | Visiting Statue 1:58 | 77 |
8 | Be a Body (侘寂) 4:20 | 83 |
9 | Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) 3:59 feat. Doldrums | 78 |
10 | Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U) 4:52 | 80 |
11 | Nightmusic 3:58 feat. Majical Cloudz | 80 |
12 | Skin 6:09 | 80 |
13 | Know the Way (Outro) 1:44 | 75 |
#1 | / | AllMusic |
#1 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
#1 | / | Rough Trade |
#2 | / | Cokemachineglow |
#2 | / | DIY |
#2 | / | NME |
#2 | / | The Fly |
#2 | / | The Guardian |
#3 | / | FILTER |
#5 | / | Clash |