Grimes
Miss Anthropocene

During your Internet browsing, between a photo of a scantily clad starlet and a news article, you may have come across the word Anthropocene. If so, great, you already know what it's about; for everyone else, it might be helpful to remember that the term "Anthropocene" has been proposed by some scholars to define the current geological era, in which humans, through various activities, have managed to permanently affect the Earth's environment.

It's difficult to establish when this process began, yet it's undeniable that industrialization, the invention of plastic, and air pollution have caused a true revolution, often negatively impacting entire ecosystems.

The effects of human intervention (climate change, animal species extinction, etc...) were largely foreseeable, but only recently do politicians seem to have noticed the awareness efforts carried out by activists. Too late, according to some.

And how have musicians responded? They certainly haven't stood idly by. Especially in the past decade, albums have been released that have more or less directly tackled the issue, often with dark and threatening tones. Among these, we recall Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada or the evocative Monument Builders by Canadian producer Loscil.

Claire Elise Boucher, better known as Grimes, has also decided to weigh in on the subject; in fact, she became so engrossed in the issue that she ended up recording a concept album (a term I detest, I know, but unfortunately necessary) centered on climate change, with the emblematic title: Miss Anthropocene.

In this work, the singer takes on the guise of an anthropomorphic goddess, a character influenced by cyberpunk, manga, and classical mythology. The purpose of all this? Grimes herself declares it: "[...] to make the climate change fun [and] make a reason to look at it".

From an artistic standpoint, Claire Elise fully confirms her talent, handling not only the vocal parts but also the production and artwork (and that's not all, as there are YouTube videos where, besides dancing well, she does her own makeup and claims to prepare terrible vegetarian concoctions).

Among the various aspects, it's the musical side that draws the most attention. If the previous Visions and Art Angels were marked by synth-pop fascinations and dreamy atmospheres, Miss Anthropocene changes the game and shifts towards a dark, industrial sound, bordering on drum and bass (as in "4ÆM") or even dark ambient (referring to "Before the Fever", where Grimes declares that what we're hearing is "the sound of the end of the world").

The journey begins with "So Heavy I Fell through the Earth (Art Mix)", psychedelic post-dubstep in which the protagonist narrates her descent to Earth in the name of love and the desire for motherhood. Is it the will to conceive some sort of savior of the human race? Or an allusion to the child Grimes would have shortly thereafter? Who can say, but the opening is definitely evocative, spot-on.

However, around here, it's not quite a rosy situation: "Unrest is in the souls/We don't move our bodies anymore" quotes "Darkseid" (a name borrowed from one of the Justice League comic characters), almost foreshadowing the lockdown alienation that would characterize our lives during the harshest months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the same line is the single "Violence", an electro-pop track where Mother Earth herself takes the floor, reflecting on the imbalances characterizing the relationship between man and the planet he inhabits. Natural disasters are "reciprocated" with a mad exploitation of earth's resources, a vicious circle from which everyone seems to derive a perverse pleasure ("You wanna make me bad, make me bad/And I like it like that, and I like it like that").

Between pollution, wretchedness, and post-modern "New Gods", there's also room for reflections on death and drug abuse. The most absurd thing (as if there weren't few) is that they're accompanied by a very strange galactic country-pop arrangement that will make many cringe; however, I, on the other hand, like it a lot (I'm referring to "Delete Forever", one of the most peculiar tracks of Miss Anthropocene).

At the end of this journey on the brink of sanity, we find the sweetest "IDORU". The title is a play on words that once again reveals Grimes' passion for manga and Japanese culture; musically, however, we're dealing with a kind of dreamy breakbeat, a hopeful finale that alludes to the birth of little X Æ A-12 (yes, you heard it right, this is the name of the child she had with entrepreneur Elon Musk).

The final result manages to exceed any possible expectations. Miss Anthropocene, in other words, is a complex work, for some confusing and too varied in terms of sounds, yet it manages to perfectly interpret the current times, characterized by devastation, pessimism, and dismay. All through a mix of science fiction, video games, dark aesthetics, and philosophy that, personally, left me surprised.

I hope those who govern us heed the warnings coming from artists like Grimes, who with their madness and visionary nature, might be the only ones capable not only of understanding the present but also of outlining disturbing future scenarios. Thus giving us the keys to better understand ourselves, those around us, and hopefully avoid the worst.