FUSE TV - You Should Know: Grimes

It’s arty. It’s poppy. It’s pretty. It’s totally weird. It’s the fantasy-inducing soundtrack to the dance party of your hipster dreams: Meet Grimes, the electro-pop project of Vancouver-bred, Montreal-based singer-songwriter Claire Boucher, whose new album Visions is one of the most interesting releases of the year so far. Let’s get to know her some more, shall we?

Grimes dropped Visions just yesterday, and is currently on the road touring—check out all her dates right here. As for Visions and why you need to buy it right now: It’s a bubbling sonic patchwork that hits your brain’s pleasure centers, and it hits them hard. The 23-year-old Boucher, a self-confessed Mariah Carey fanatic, blends disco diva coos with lo-fi beats, washes of synths with Kanye samples. She explores the sounds of Korean pop, hip hop, R&B and micro-genres like chillwave and witch-house, often all in one song. For comparisons sake, her sound is part Lykke Li (with whom she toured last year), part Fever Ray and part atmospheric hip hop newcomer the Weeknd. Yep, it’s an interesting mix, and she pulls it off with a distinctive flair.

My favorites tracks from Visions are “Vowels = Space and Time” and “Oblivion,” which you can hear below. But another song, “Angel,” released on a deluxe version of the album, just dropped online. Check it out below. Also, watch a clip of Grimes performing live here. It's a one-woman-band deal, with Boucher handling, well, everything. Yet another reason to see her live this spring.

So, what do you think of Grimes? Sound off in the comments below.

Grimes, "Angel"