New Music - Grimes: 'Vanessa'

Ever since I can remember I've a had a disposition for moodiness and obscurity, which at the time meant an entire childhood and adolescence of awkward self-loathing without a clear grasp of social norms and communication skills. Movies about outcast, weird girls always appealed to me and made me feel a little more normal. In my 20s now, with a grown-up job, career plans and a savings account, I harbor this kind of emotional deformity with anticipatory warmth like ice cream trucks and Jacks (for those of you who remember that game). Different is more valuable than the same, so I relish every opportunity to bathe in that childhood anxiety of social confusion.

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Kaleidoscope images, smeared dark lipstick, long tangled hair and impulsive dancing in Montreal-based Grimes' new video "Vanessa" revive those sentiments. Momentary as it is, Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, leaves in her path a trail of ethereal nostalgia with an innocent high-frequency voice and that electro pop rhythm. Call it hipster bullshit straight out of an American Apparel ad, maybe rightfully so, but at the very least you can't deny you want to move to that beat, especially around the 2:30 mark.

The video comes ahead of the Grimes' Split 12" with d'Eon titled Dark Bloom and coming out on Arbutus records April 19.