Grimes
“Miss Anthropocene”
Kudos to Grimes for the album title. Is it a clever pun on “misanthropy,” reflecting the pessimistic world view that runs though the fifth album by the Canadian songwriter, producer and one-woman band?
Probably, but it’s also likely a reference to our Anthropocene epoch in Earth’s history, the era that began with humankind’s ecological impact on the planet and that will end, presumably, with our demise as a species.
That’s an outcome that Grimes —who went from being an acclaimed indie music superhero to a tabloid celebrity when she showed up at the Met Ball in 2018 with her big-brained, super-rich partner, Elon Musk —sometimes seems to look forward to. “So, we party when the sun goes low,” she sings on “My Name Is Dark (Art Mix).” “Imminent annihilation sounds so dope.”
Grimes (born Claire Boucher) has stated that the goal of her dazzlingly produced, 10-song set, which flows freely between nu-metal and folk, art rock and EDM, is to “make climate change fun.”
She doesn’t mean that global warming is a gas, but that by making music with irresistible momentum, ingenuity and pop savvy, she can focus attention on weighty subjects and make them accessible.
Perhaps. Digging deep into what the shape-shifting quicksilver songs, packed with sonic detail, are actually about —whether the end of the world or her own personal life —is more likely to inspire panic than hope. “You’re gonna get sick,” Grimes sings menacingly on “Before the Fever,” as if predicting a global pandemic. Scary stuff, but it sure sounds good.
—Dan DeLuca
BTS
“Map of the Soul: 7”
BTS could be K-pop’s Beatles, but that means they’d have to usher in an album-oriented era for a singles genre, and “Map of the Soul: 7” will not. Much of last year’s tastier “Map of the Soul: Persona” is reprised on this 75-minute opus, but none of the new songs matches the early-Kanye-goes-Zeppelin “Intro: Persona” or the multiplying hooks of last year’s international smash “Boy With Luv.”
Of the new tunes, the tango-ish Jimin solo track “Filter,” the seductive “Louder Than Bombs” and the squawking-horn coda of “Outro: Ego” come close enough. But the militaristic new single “On” should feel like it’s peaking at some point, and the hyperactive rap showcase “UGH!” should be a more ripping change of pace.
Worst of all, the cavernously flattened trap-pop of the stretch from “Inner Child” to “Respect” only evokes the emptiest platitudes of big-tent, post-genre pop from Imagine Dragons to alt-J.
—Dan Weiss
Real Estate
“The Main Thing”
Since the band’s 2009 debut, Real Estate has specialized in shimmery, mid-tempo songs built on layers of guitars. Anchored by three high school friends from Ridgewood, N.J., and inspired by older North Jersey groups like the Feelies and Yo La Tengo, the band has gradually expanded arrangements to include more prominent keyboards and on this, the fifth album, a string quartet that adds depth to songs that might formerly have been diaphanous.
First single “Paper Cut” is a bit of an outlier: a groovy, soft-rock confection with backing vocals from Sylvan Esso. Most of the rest of “The Main Thing” is more subdued: a contemplative album concerned with aging, climate change and other existential crises. “If there is a point to this/ It’s something that I must have missed,” sings Martin Courtney in “Friday,” the gently ambling opening track. The questions find resolution in the comparatively chipper title track: “Despite the true significance of everything at stake/ I will stay true/ The main thing.” Real Estate stays true to form, and that’s a good thing.
—Steve Klinge
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