Roskilde 2016 Review: Grimes

Imagine a character from a Japanese manga coming to life and performing (or screeching) electro pop songs in front of a dancing crowd. Well, Canadian star Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, surprised the Roskilde audience with her experimental tunes and high-pitch screaming – it may sound unpleasant but it really fit the show.

Her performance turned the Arena stage into a one-hour party. Talented back-up dancers and strobe lights turned the show into more than just a musical performance.

The singer has recorded four albums so far, with her latest one released in late 2015. Her hits ‘Genesis’ and ‘Entropy’, from previous albums, were widely enjoyed by fans yesterday.

Difficult to define
It’s barely possible to cage her sounds into one music genre. Grimes is an alien from another dimension that experiments elements of electro, ambient, dark wave, art pop and much more.

Beyond her truly original tunes, what probably struck the audience the most is Grimes’ super-fast talk (almost incomprehensible) and her slight awkwardness on stage.

She told the audience: “I know you probably do not understand anything I’m saying,” before proceeding to weirdly mumble.

Rave atmosphere
Regardless, the artist really put herself forward when performing and definitely met the audience’s expectations.

Grimes is known for playing everything herself when she’s on stage. The performance saw the artist running between her instruments and sound platforms to re-create and remix her sounds. Her co-ordination and dedication truly impressed the crowd.

With the final dancey track ‘Kill V Maim’, Grimes created a proper neon rave atmosphere at the festival’s stage that brought all the fans into her extravagant world.