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Visions

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Visions is the third studio album by Grimes, released on February 21, 2012. Her first since signing with 4AD.

Visions was streamed on the NPR website nine days before it was released.[1]

In November 2012, with the announcement that Visions was named album of the year by record shops Rough Trade and Resident, two exclusive bonus discs were made available with any purchase of the album in each shop, featuring remixes and exclusive tracks.[2]

Background[]

The album leaked on January 20, 2012.[3][4][5]

Visions was a shift in her mentality towards music, explaining in an interview:[6]

❝ For me the number one thing about music is that it should feel really good to make and it should feel really good to listen to, and so that’s what I pursue. Everything on this album for me has a lot of heart. My older albums were really just fun-time experimental stuff. But I want to make music that means something, at least to me. ❞

Inspiration[]

When asked to identify the album's main theme, Grimes replied:[6]

❝ Just loss in general, I think. A lot of the best music that I write, I write when I’m really upset and that’s definitely pretty intentional. That’s definitely a thing. Visions was a really intense record to write because of the process of getting there. There was always this feeling that I needed to get away from Montreal, and then I went on tour for like the whole year, and I became incredibly homesick. I broke up with my boyfriend because I was never around. When I came home I didn’t know anybody anymore and I was just like, 'fuck, I wanna leave again.' Definitely one weird thing about music is that it led to this kind of homelessness that’s a little strange. ❞

When asked who her main influences for the album were, Grimes responded:[7]

❝ When I was making it, I was listening to a lot of Outkast, Dungeon Family, New Edition, TLC, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey. And then a lot of Burial, Black Dice, Aphex Twin, and Nine Inch Nails. I’m into the really caustic beats, the kind of sharp drum and bass kind of stuff. Really nice vocals too, with lots of tight harmonies at the same time. ❞

In an interview with Exclaim! she deemed her influences "as wide as Enya, TLC and Aphex Twin, drawing from genres like New Jack Swing, IDM, new age, K-pop, industrial and glitch."[8] 2NE1 also served as an influence.[9]

Name[]

The album's name is a reference to medieval Christian mystic and composer Hildegard von Bingen, who also inspired parts of Halfaxa.[10] She explained to Fake Plastic Tunes:[11]

❝ It’s sort of a reference… it sounds so pretentious. I’m going to sound like such an asshole. [..] It’s partially a reference to Hildegard who I wrote my thesis on when I was still at the university. She’s a really major inspiration for me. When I was writing the album, I sort of did a lot of things… medieval and spiritual techniques like fasting and stuff… to see what would happen. I’ve done it a little bit in the past to be productive. But I did it this time in an incredibly intense way. And it was an incredible experience- I kind of went crazy and so the album is about that. Visions is about that. I was thinking of a title and it’s like realizing my… vision? Maybe that sounds stupid but it’s the sonic manifestation of my brain. I see music as such a visual thing. It doesn’t exist in my head without something else. ❞

Grimes wrote her thesis on Hildegard, telling Nightlife.ca:[12]

❝ It was a disaster because I never wrote anything about history, but I really wanted to do it. I was passionate about medieval literature and philosophy, so I chose to write my thesis on Hildegard von Bingen, a twelfth-century composer and writer. She is a major influence for me as a female artist. She spent 16 years of her life in a cloister. She was chained and tortured, she didn't eat. In her time, women didn't make music, but she managed to circumvent the system and publish her art by claiming it came not from her, but from God. ❞

In an interview with Clash however when asked about the album title, she proclaimed “I guess the simplest way to answer that would be to say that I just felt it’s a direct reference to forward thinking, and also really looking to the past at the same time in a cohesive single word [...] I could talk for hours but I won’t. It’s complicated."[13]

Composition[]

The album's sound was primarily inspired by the parties Grimes performed at and the responses she got from the audience, stating in an interview with Electronic Beats:[14]

❝ I feel this album was really informed by just playing so many party-like environments. I had to really change the way my music sounded to make it fit into that context a lot more, which I think is one of the reasons why it has such a dance vibe. But I didn’t do that because I wanted to appease people. But the first time people danced on my show it was really rewarding. I think I was kind of seeking that feeling, that dream again. ❞

She further elaborated on her thought process while making the album and its main themes by saying:[15]

❝ I just wanted to make something that was really emotionally evocative but still really experimental; something that was spiritual and kind of overwhelming but at the same time was also super gratifying and dancey. I listened to tonnes of different kinds of music – dance music, hip hop – and I wanted to bring these sentiments together. It’s an intellectual sentiment before anything else because while stuff does manifest in production it's all about the mindset. You can make an amazing song but if you don’t feel passionate about it while you’re making it it’s useless. I have tonnes of music that I don’t feel anything about so I don’t want to release it. So yeah. [...] It’s really about science fiction and the internet and our experience these days; trying to navigate human experience in this kind of world. People are really emotional and at the end of the day people come back to these biological instincts but they’re being run through servers and computers and screens and electronic music and all this crazy shit, so this album is about mediating man and machine because we’re sort of becoming machines but if that's the case, what happens to our emotion and feeling? ❞

Writing[]

She described her writing process as being "equally enjoyable and tortuous".[16] Comparing the lyrics to her previous releases, she said:[17]

❝ It’s thought-out and intentional. It feels like the first record I’ve really made. The lyrics are about things. I don’t necessarily want people to understand them, but it’s not randomness. There was a point where [randomness] was really cool, but everything just ended up feeling kind of empty. ❞

Production[]

Due to a deadline imposed by Grimes' manager at the time,[18] Visions was fully finished during an extended isolation over a three-week period at Grimes' home in Montreal.[19] During recording, she was reclusive and insomniac with blacked out windows, for nine days, to induce hallucinations, explaining: "You have no stimulation, so your subconscious starts filling in the blanks. I started to feel like I was channelling spirits. I was convinced my music was a gift from God. It was like I knew exactly what to do next, as if my songs were already written".[20] She also ate "little to nothing" describing the process as "an incredible thing to do.":[6]

❝ It just creates incredible lucidity. It was like I knew what I had to do and I just felt like I could work for hours and hours. There were definitely periods when I think I worked for 24 hours or more without stopping – just in the same spot, totally focusing so hard on one thing... At a certain point (the music) kind of develops its own sort of mantra-esque life. ❞

The album was recorded entirely on Apple's GarageBand software,[21] using the Line 6 M9 vocal processor, the BOSS VE-20 vocal processor, a sampler and a Juno-G keyboard.[22][20] It was mixed by Grimes and her manager Sebastian Cowan at their La Brique Studio Space.[23] The album was finished in August 2011.[24]

Release and Promotion[]

Release[]

There is a common misconception that Visions was released on January 31, 2012 at the earliest to the point that some streaming services, online stores and widely used sources such as Wikipedia use this date. This is because this was the original release date as reported by Arbutus Records in October 2011 (her main label at the time which exclusively released her music in Canada),[25] which media outlets reported.[26][27][28] However, in January 2012 Grimes got signed to 4AD who planned to release Visions on February 21 and March 12 in the United States and Europe, respectively.[29] The official release date of the album was rescheduled to February 21 in North America and March 12 in Europe as reported by several media outlets.[30][31][32][33] This is further supported by none of the album reviews being from January (the earliest album reviews are from around February 12 as this was the date Visions was exclusively available to stream on NPR.org),[34] there being no mention of the album being released in January by Grimes Tumblr fanblogs active at the time,[35][36] as well as there not being any editions of the album released in January on Discogs, a site which serves as a database for every edition of a musical release ever released.[37]

Promotion[]

Inspired by K-Pop group Girls Generation, Grimes intended to make a music video for each song on Visions.[6]

❝ There’ll be a pretty intense quality difference between some of them. [..] The ones I do myself – especially the ones where I use my mom’s point and shoot camera, which was sometimes my only video option – will be really ghetto. I think it’s really important to work with other people on videos; just developing something with another person, ‘cause I never get to do that in music. The thing about working with people in film is that they definitely are more qualified than I am. So it’s interesting to have a team where everyone’s doing the thing that they’re best at. It makes a really good product in the end.

Everything I do, all the visuals and everything I do, it’s working with the music. I care about music, but the thing I care most about is crafting a complete work, and the visual part is a huge part of that for me. I mean I love making music videos, I love it almost more than making music. It’s one of the most fulfilling things ever. It’s so fun. I want to work in video art and, you know, be recognised for that too. There’s just so many options... so many things that I still have to do. There’s no time to be repetitive. ❞

In the end, only music videos for Oblivion, Genesis and Nightmusic were released. A video for Be A Body (侘寂) was made, but scrapped due to the death of her friend who starred in the video.[38]

Singles[]

Tour[]

Main Article: Visions Tour

Album Visuals[]

Grimes said of the cover:[39]

❝ I painted that while [I was] watching [Gaspar Noé’s 2009 film] Enter the Void, and I was just having a terrible time. [..] It was like the day after and I was just trying to watch horrible movies. So the drawing… I wanted it to be kind of like a Bosch painting: very modern, but kind of reminiscent of surreal medieval shit. ❞

Grimes got the alien head on the back cover "from a guy's blog, with his permission" and "worked on it [the cover] for about 16 hours straight."[40]

The text above the main artwork translates as "I love" in Russian; the Japanese inspired text does not mean anything.

On the right side, The Russian text under "Grimes" is taken from an Anna Akhmatova, poem "But Listen, I Am Warning You" and translate as "But listen, I am warning you. I’m living for the very last time." The four lines of text on the bottom right of the album cover is from another of Akhmatova's poems - "The Song of the Last Meeting" - and reads: "I am betrayed by my doleful, Fickle, evil fate. I answered: "Darling, darling! I too. I will die with you…" The Russian text above the Thanos head translates to "Computing Head".

When asked "Do you really like Akhmatova, or did you include the quote in Russian just for the design?", Grimes replied:[40]

❝ I really like Akhmatova's poetry, and I included those lines for the design. In my opinion, one does not contradict the other. ❞

When asked why does the album cover even feature Russian text, Grimes replied:[41]

❝ Well, I used to study Russian quite a bit, it's one of my favorite languages, I just think it sounds really beautiful, and, like, when I was a teenager, I was obsessed with Russian authors for some reason, which is so weird (..)

(..) Russia's a good heartland for art, incredible art, and, uh, I'm just so very overtaken by the language because I can write it, it's like, "Why wouldn't I write it?" I guess? Like, it's more fun than English. ❞

Tracklist[]

Visions
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.Infinite ♡ Without FulfillmentGrimesGrimes1:36
2.GenesisGrimesGrimes4:15
3.OblivionGrimesGrimes4:12
4.EightGrimesGrimes1:48
5.CircumambientGrimesGrimes3:43
6.Vowels = space and timeGrimesGrimes4:21
7.Visiting StatueGrimesGrimes1:59
8.Be A Body (侘寂)GrimesGrimes4:20
9.Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) (ft. Doldrums)Grimes • DoldrumsGrimes • Doldrums4:00
10.Symphonia IX (my wait is u)GrimesGrimes4:51
11.Nightmusic (ft. Majical Cloudz)Grimes • Majical CloudzGrimes • Majical Cloudz5:03
12.SkinGrimesGrimes6:09
13.Know The WayGrimesGrimes1:45

Visions - iTunes Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14.Christmas Song (ft. Jay Worthy)Grimes • Jay WorthyGrimes2:58
Visions - Amazon Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14.AngelGrimesGrimes1:22
Visions - Japanese Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14.Life After DeathGrimesGrimes2:48
15.AmbrosiaGrimesGrimes3:31

Visions - Rough Trade Edition (bonus disc)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.AmbrosiaGrimesGrimes3:31
2.Christmas Song (ft. Jay Worthy)GrimesGrimes4:15
3.Genesis (Skip Remix)GrimesGrimes4:01
4.Song for RicGrimes • Majical CloudzGrimes • Majical Cloudz3:19
5.Be A Body (侘寂) (Baarsden Remix)GrimesGrimes3:25
Visions - Resident Edition (bonus disc)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.AngelGrimesGrimes1:22
2.Life After DeathGrimesGrimes2:48
3.Oblivion (Baarsden Remix)GrimesGrimes3:46
4.Be A Body (侘寂) (Toroki Remix)GrimesGrimes4:55

Visions
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1.OblivionGrimesGrimes4:12
2.EightGrimesGrimes1:48
3.CircumambientGrimesGrimes3:43
4.Life After DeathGrimesGrimes2:48
5.Nightmusic (ft. Majical Cloudz)Grimes • Majical CloudzGrimes • Majical Cloudz5:03
6.AmbrosiaGrimesGrimes3:31
7.Symphonia IX (my wait is u)GrimesGrimes4:51
8.GenesisGrimesGrimes4:15
9.SkinGrimesGrimes6:09
Taken from the website of Arbutus Records.[42]

Credits[]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Visions.

  • Grimes – vocals, production, poetry
  • Sebastian Cowan – mastering, mixing
  • Anna Akhmatova – poetry
  • Jasper Baydala – layout
  • Mark Khair – alien head design

Trivia[]

  • Grimes told Discorder: "I would send this record to aliens, but I don’t know if I was trying to speak to aliens on this record."[43]
  • This is the first Grimes record that her grandmother likes, after hating her previous records.[44]
  • Retrospectively Grimes told Q Magazine: "I was a much weaker person when I wrote Visions. [..] It was a sad record- cathartic, but victim-y. During [the making of Art Angels] I’ve got control of my music. It feels more developed. On Visions I was still in school, mentally. Since then, I’ve wanted to make something strong and aggressive because it’s more reflective of me."[45]
  • Grimes described the album's sound as "psychedelic sci-fi twee" in an interview for Pitchfork, when asked to describe it in three words.[46]
  • The release day of Visions coincides with that of Miss Anthropocene.

References[]

  1. ↑ http://www.npr.org/2012/02/06/146463100/first-listen-grimes-visions
  2. ↑ http://4ad.com/news/30/11/2012/grimesvisionsannouncedasalbumoftheyearatroughtradeandresident
  3. ↑ https://feastofbeast.com/post/16251987216/grimes-vowels-space-and-time-premiere-from
  4. ↑ https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?showall=true&bookmarkedmessageid=3171781&boardid=41&threadid=90302
  5. ↑ https://www.last.fm/music/Grimes/+shoutbox/11948651:shoutbox:20caa093-10fc-4101-881c-dbada1ece2d5
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/grimes-there-s-no-time-to-be-repetitive
  7. ↑ https://www.vulture.com/2012/02/grimes-on-visions-anime-and-being-the-next-phil-spector.html
  8. ↑ https://exclaim.ca/music/article/grimes-accidental_pop_star
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120229005628/https://www.thefourohfive.com/news/article/total-sensory-deprivation-the-405-meets-grimes
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120513131629/http://forthebeat.com/blog/2010/09/interview-with-grimes/
  11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120124203939/http://www.fakeplastictunes.com/2012/01/sound-check-part-ii-grimes-interview.html
  12. ↑ Nightlife.ca/2011/Interview
  13. ↑ https://www.clashmusic.com/features/visions-grimes/
  14. ↑ https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-visions-the-voice-an-interview-with-grimes/
  15. ↑ https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/utr/interviewMore/CID/451/N/Grimes.utr
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120502052512/http://www.7digital.com/features/interviews/grimes
  17. ↑ https://nowtoronto.com/music/grimes-4/
  18. ↑ https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2015/12/grimes-fuse-first-art-angels-visions-interview
  19. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/28/grimes-visions-montreal
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20120219234025/https://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/8774-grimes/
  21. ↑ http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/visions-grimes
  22. ↑ https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/grimes
  23. ↑ The Creators Project/Interview
  24. ↑ https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/qa-grimes
  25. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160306232551/http://arbutusrecords.com/?p=925
  26. ↑ https://hypebeast.com/2011/10/grimes-oblivion
  27. ↑ https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/this-is-our-jam-grimes-oblivon
  28. ↑ https://earmilk.com/2011/10/17/grimes-visions-album/
  29. ↑ https://dmy.co/news/grimes-signs-to-4ad
  30. ↑ https://www.gorillavsbear.net/grimes-signs-with-4ad/
  31. ↑ https://consequence.net/2012/01/grimes-signs-with-4ad/
  32. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/news/44967-grimes-signs-to-4ad-listen-to-new-track-genesis-from-visions/
  33. ↑ https://fyeahgrimes.tumblr.com/post/15182656538/update-about-visionsnew-label-4ad-new-new
  34. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120214064505/https://www.npr.org/2012/02/06/146463100/first-listen-grimes-visions#playlist
  35. ↑ https://grimes-claireboucher.tumblr.com/archive/2012/1
  36. ↑ https://fyeahgrimes.tumblr.com/archive/2012/1
  37. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/master/411575-Grimes-Visions
  38. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimes/comments/sr5yay/listening_note_booklet/
  39. ↑ https://www.vinylmeplease.com/blogs/magazine/grimes-visions-artwork
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 http://djmag.ru/cover/grimes-ya-lyublyu-depressivnuyu-tantsevalnuyu-muzyku
  41. ↑ https://youtu.be/qQXdDvs0cVc?si=5JyxY3jUQd3Loxv4&t=868
  42. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130417210836/https://arbutusrecords.com/?shopp_product=grimes-visions-pre-order
  43. ↑ https://sarahberms.com/2012/02/10/grimes-psychedelic/
  44. ↑ Complex/Interview
  45. ↑ https://loveyouclaire.tumblr.com/post/131387825958/people-are-strange-inspired-by-billy-joel-and
  46. ↑ https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=OdzZUMvw2zQPlqMg&t=329
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