The singer, songwriter, producer, graphic artist and all around female force that is Grimes has just dropped her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene. It’s manifesto, to make “climate change fun” promised an intriguing (if not a bit pretentious) project. Although (and probably for the best) this claim isn’t fully translated in its final result, Miss Anthropocene nonetheless manages to artfully depict the polarising reality of our present, and offers an optimistic uncertainty towards our future.

Opposing atmospheres and ideologies entwine throughout the journey of the album: romantic, intimate moments in tracks like Delete Forever and IDORU juxtapose the beat-ridden, extroverted chaos in Darkseid and 4ÆM, microscopic details can be found in the intricate soundscaping of epic, universal staging of So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth, and in the closing track We Appreciate Power, this ethereal opener meets its adversary, bringing us from exploring the quirky characters of the cosmos back to a dystopian, barren, technologically ridden planet Earth. All of this is conceived through Grimes’ firm grasp on producing truly other-worldly textures, and complimenting these are her celestial vocals, which do not shy from non-verbal, animal-like gestures in their performance. Married together they are a dynamic and unstoppable force.

Though some of its individual cuts don’t carry the same gusto as their counterparts, the album as a whole is packed with enough lyrical food-for-thought, paired with innovative, cutting-edge production, to deem it far from lacklustre. Grimes begins the new decade as we hope the music proceeding it will continue to: wild and imaginative, infectious and exciting, all done with a unique point of view, and fantastic execution.

Dany Bowen