Grimes - Flesh Without Blood / Life in the Vivid Dream

In the interim between records, plenty of Grimes quotes have come and gone, some being taken out of context, some being seen as lynchpins of what to expect from new material. Claire Boucher’s been quick in shunning rumours she scrapped material, hit a brick wall, or that last year’s ‘Go’ single was even intended for the follow-up to ‘Visions’.

One thing’s clear with ‘Flesh Without Blood’. If the anti-pop purists weren’t into ‘Go’, Boucher hasn’t backtracked one jot.

The lead track from ‘Art Angels’ is a chaotic but sky-reaching burst of life, like if Taylor Swift went gung-ho EDM and kept the recipe to herself. The tropes of ‘Visions’ - finding unorthodox ways to hit big heights - remain, but this still sounds unlike anything Grimes has put her name to before. Closing section ‘Life in the Vidid Dream’ is a broken and blood-splattered clash of jagged beats and looped acoustics. Again, new territory for Boucher. But on the basis of this bright one-two, she’s ready to take on anything.