Darkbloom is the first studio extended play, first collaboration and overall third album released by Grimes that was originally a split album with fellow Canadian musician d'Eon. The first five songs, later re-released separately as an extended play, were performed, written and produced by her alone, while the four others are d'Eon's; together they share the album. It was released on April 18, 2011[1] as a joint release through Grimes' and d'Eon's respective labels, Arbutus Records and Hippos in Tanks, and re-released featuring exclusively Grimes' songs later the same year.
Darkbloom was conceived together by Grimes and d'Eon but recorded separately. Grimes directed the video for Vanessa herself after reportedly being unhappy with the video made for Crystal Ball. Main genres are dream pop, baroque pop, dark wave, experimental and witch house. The extended play consisting solely of Grimes' songs has a length of 17:44, while the full version featuring songs by d'Eon has a running time of 36:19.
Darkbloom received positive reviews. Louise Brailey from FACT gave it a moderated review, commenting: "as if a breeze blowing one way would result in Cocteau Twins lofty pop-art confection, a breeze the other: nothingness"[2]. From Pitchfork, Lindsay Zoladz gave it a positive review, stating that "the only complaint I've got with her [Grimes'] side of Darkbloom is that it's too short, this is indeed cause for excitement"[3].
