Those, who remember the 1980s, weren’t part of them, as people say. Despite the phrase’s ambiguity, it does happen every now and then that an artist releases a record, which seems to derive exactly from that decade. In many genres, that might be taken as a compliment. However, if an album like »Visions« limits itself to only Gothic and synthesizers, there’s just not much excitement to be found on it. Especially, since her previous »Genesis« had attracted quite a bit of attention with its thumping rhythms and the electronic choir. Maybe this attention would still be justifiable, if it wasn’t for such an absentminded and aimless naivety that’s entrenched in the record. None of the tracks is in any way out of the ordinary. Instead, each song is made from a single stencil, which Grimes simply applies thirteen times in a row. »Be A Body« switches on the low notes, only to finally wriggle itself into a melody. On top of it, Grimes purrs with her thin voice that’s actually quite exchangeable – no matter how often she starts her peculiar elve-singing. In »Circumambient«, the individual elements are a bit shifted, but it all stays on the same field. It can’t be denied that Grimes can do better; especially because »Symphonia IX« finally lifts the tip of Pandora’s box, which only stands in the corner as a memorial on all the other tracks on »Visions«. It just happens too often that the sound seems to be standing in its own way. Those, who want to remember that sound, are free to do so. For all the others, there’s just not much to experience on »Visions«.
Visions
