by Sravya Raju

With hypnotic drum beats, synthesized loops and shimmering vocals that have earned her (rather unfair) comparisons to Enya, Claire Boucher a.k.a. Grimes is set to make her mark on 2012.

Hailing from Vancouver, she has produced three solo albums in the last two years, and is quickly attracting considerable intrigue and notoriety. Boucher’s latest instalment, Visions (released in March of this year), sees her creating wonderfully eerie and distorted electro-pop, reminiscent of artists such as Zola Jesus, Austra and Lykke Li.

Her songs feature twisted and fragmented sounds that sensually wrap themselves around lyrics which are often emotionally dark and violent, such as ‘Oblivion’: ”Another walk about, after dark/ It’s my point of view/ If someone could break your neck/ Coming up behind you always coming and you’d never have a clue”.

Boucher combines the visual with her strangely addictive and ethereal music to produce her modern creations, recently opening an art exhibition in New York’s East Village simply entitled Grimes. Her method of songwriting? “Visions was conceived in a period of self-imposed cloistering during which time I did not see daylight.“

We like a bit of eccentricity and if it produces pop music this good, nobody is about to complain. Grimes presents us with a wonderfully fresh, raw and uncompromising offering. Set to tour the UK during May, you should probably check her out.

Grimes – Oblivion by abeano

Download: ‘Oblivion’, ‘Vanessa’, ‘Genesis’