“I want to make climate change fun. People don’t care about it, because we’re being guilted,” she told the publication. “I see the polar bear and want to kill myself. No one wants to look at it, you know? I want to make a reason to look at it. I want to make it beautiful.”
Grimes to WSJ. (Quote via Exclaim)
Grimes, who now wants to be referred to as “c,” released her fifth album “Miss Anthropocene.” The album is famously meant to be about climate change, which in itself is rather tone deaf due to its dystopian and indulgent aesthetics. Grimes goes as far as titling the album after the influence of human activity on the environment, which can be taken as a “troll” move because she is referring to herself as “Miss Anthropocene” and admitting to being part of the issue. Despite Grimes making climate change an “aesthetic” for her album, and missing the marks of her own privilege, it is an enjoyable album.
Album Breakdown:
The album did as Grimes promised. It made climate change out to be a fictitious villain but, it was all very abstract. It was very easy to gloss over that message in the album because it addressed other issues more bluntly.
A lot of the album rode between that fine line of bleak darkness and art. It addressed the doom that is “soon to come” (via the apocalypse) and it addressed the opioid epidemic in a deceivingly romantic manner.
Song Breakdown:
Grimes vocals and melodies are disembodied and disconnected but that only adds to the allure that is Grimes. “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth” is lyrically simplistic. The focus is on the repetition of the lyrics along with the ethereal, mid-tempo, trip-hop beats. It is the calm before the storm.
“Darkseid” is much more drastic and ominous, both lyrically and in tone. It features a stronger bass and an angrier sounding lyricist. The rapper seems to be experiencing a stream-of-consciousness in all its rawness. Grimes gives another swerve in direction by putting a ballad next, “Delete Forever.” The lyrics are much more distinguishable and clear as they play over an acoustic, folk guitar and the usual electronica bass. The song maintains a country twang to it and that is to possibly lighten the severity of its topic, the opioid epidemic.
“It’s a pretty bummer song,” she told Zane Lowe. “I’m so bad at talking about this song. I guess it’s kind of about the opioid epidemic…I’ve had quite a few friends pass away, in particular, one friend when I was 18 passed away from complications related to opioid addiction. Artists keep dying and stuff so I wrote this song on the night Lil Peep died.”
Grimes on “Delete Forever.” (Quote via Rolling Stone)
From there, the listener can expect Grimes’ norm. A soft, ethereal and angelic voice, the echoing of her voice, relatively simplistic lyrics, a pulsating bass, psychedelic electronica, a dash of Bollywood influence, the slightest lean of alt-rock, and heavy ambiance.
This album is bleak. Each song is about human destruction, whether it be towards ourselves or towards the environment. What made this album strong was just letting go of trying to find that “deeper” meaning and enjoying it as is.
Album Favorites:
“Violence,” “4AEM,” “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around,” and “We Appreciate Power.”
Listen to “Miss Anthropocene ” on Spotify:
