Claire Boucher is an incredibly intriguing character. The 23 year old Canadian, who performs under the name Grimes, once constructed a houseboat which she dubbed "Velvet Glove Cast in Iron", armed herself with some live chickens, potatoes and a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and attempted to sail down the Mississippi. When all was said and done all that remained was a damaged engine, impounded chickens and a great story for journalists to write in reviews, but this sense of adventure has transplanted itself towards her music. With Visions, Grimes has created a brilliant record of ethereal cutting edge dream-pop, as much a headphone/bedroom record as it is a dancefloor-filler.
For an album that was devised and recorded entirely in Boucher's bedroom, Visions is a remarkably assured piece of work. Be it the perkier, dance pieces like 'Be A Body' and 'Vowels = Space and Time', or the darker more introspective pieces like 'Genesis', the one unifying property is Boucher's falsetto-like voice, a perfect match for the record whether it's exploring the space in the more dreamy numbers, or firmly attached to the darker textures of songs like 'Oblivion' and 'Circumambient'.
It took her three albums to get here but Grimes' Visions is a masterpiece of dreamy electro-pop and its no-frills construction places Claire Boucher firmly at the forefront of the cutting edge of a brave new musical movement. Visions would be a welcome addition to any record collection. And holy crap is it ever catchy..
