Grimes Dropped a Surprise Video for Semi-New Song 'REALiTi'

Claire Boucher, the artist currently known as Grimes, sneak-dropped a new video for the scrapped demo “REALiTi” as a treat for her fans who saw her tour across Asia, and it’s a peek into her future direction: more declaratively pop with a new-wave bend in its knee, and vocals with lyrics that are actually discernible rather than buried in folds of gossamer synths. That’s bravery, maybe, and a smooth artistic glide into her position as global pop star, definitely. It’s more accessible, I think. Please, Grimes stans, don’t shoot me for saying so.

Her message:

Since this is no longer gonna be on the album, I’m releasing it as a special thank you to everyone in Singapore, KL, Manila, Jakarta, HK, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo who came out to the shows! It was an honor to play with a bunch of amazing bands and travel to places I would never otherwise be able to go[.]

This song was never finished. its a demo from ~ the lost album ~, recorded early 2013. i lost the ableton file, so its not mixed or mastered. i tried to doctor the mp3 into a listenable state, but it was poorly recorded in the first place and never meant to be heard by anyone, so its a bit of a mess haha.

xo

It’s not that messy—sounds tight as hell on computer speakers, at least. The video was clearly shot during her Asian tour, much of it ground-up shots of Boucher arm-dancing in a crest of her own tritonal hair. The vocal layering is defter than much of her Visions work, like even cobbling together a demo she has learned to better edit, the sign of an improved songwriter.

Sidebar: synth steez of this song would also sound good next to this on a playlist: