I first discovered Grimes whilst
looking through an ‘Underachievers please try harder’ set list a few months
ago. I very rarely listen to electronic music, and this club night very rarely plays
it. Yet two weeks after listening to her for the first time I was buying the
tickets to see her perform live. This
incredibly talented and likeable girl from Vancouver has produced a very special
kind of music that I think a lot more people will start listening to over the
coming months. Dreamy, lively and poetic sounds are combined beautifully in her
latest album ‘Visions’, released earlier this year. This is the album that
featured most prominently in her live set.
The gig was moved to The Ritz from Sound
Control due to higher than expected demand for tickets, as I say this is
someone who is rapidly being discovered by many people as one of the most
exciting artists around today. I’m not sure she’d ever make the mainstream,
because, well, she’s too good. It seems to me for a new artist to break through
to being well-known these days; they’ve got to conform to a very narrow and
unoriginal formula. It’s always been like this to an extent, but it’s
definitely got worse as times gone on.
Grimes finally came on stage at 10; I heard
they had to delay it once again due to higher than expected numbers on the
night. As soon as she introduced herself it became obvious that her natural
voice is as innocently high pitched as her singing. She moved through her first
few numbers just with her one member of her backing on stage with her Each of them were operating mixing desks. She quickly switched between dials,
buttons and decks to play her songs, also checking the levels on headphones and
finding time to lose herself in the music which was a joy to watch. It was all very
impressive, and that doesn’t even cover the range of her vocals. To
be so busy managing all the components of her greatly varied and changeable
songs – and still be able to sing in her incredible voice on top of that was
amazing to see.
She was joined on stage later by two
dancers, with at least one of whom had a ‘gothic’ look to them. I think the
whole gothic theme is a bit silly to be honest, I don’t see how it actually
fits in with Grimes as a person or her music – but then maybe it was more
relevant to her earlier albums that I’m not as familiar with. The cover of her
latest album looks like some kind of death metal creation, but her music
couldn’t be further from that in reality.
Her thrilling set was an hour in total, maybe a
little short but it was a great performance. I left with a real feeling of
affection for her, she’s very talented but she’s not arrogant about it like too
many others in the music industry are. I’d recommend her music to anyone, you
won’t have heard anything like it before, and it’s hard not to be uplifted by
its great blend of danceable rhythms, classical melodies and liberating vocals.
Words by Chris Ashworth
