We finally uncover the phenomenon. What do we find? Mostly Del Shannon…
[Video] [Website]
[6.91]
Michaela Drapes: “‘Cause when you’re running by yourself it’s hard to find someone to hold your hand”: truer words were never sung, I’m finding. You know, of course, the thing that I love about Grimes is that she sounds like early New Order fronted by an all-too-knowing young woman, who has the grit and the gumption to sing about things that wispily eluded me at her age, that still elude me, even. I’m catching up, though.
[9]
Kat Stevens: Time constraints mean I am reviewing this song during the ad breaks for Important Prime Time Television. I can confirm that “Oblivion” sounds more like the Red Bull advert than the We Buy Any Car advert but it’s a close run thing.
[5]
Anthony Easton: It starts off sounding how I imagine a William Gibson movie from one of his lesser short stories would sound, if they made them a year after publication rather than half a decade or so. The beat maintains its own power, but the vocals have a breathlessness that does not rise over the smart retro quality of the instrumentation, and once the la la las hit, I sort of seek something darker and more gleaming.
[4]
Brad Shoup: It seems like Grimes is deconstructing all those creepy pleaders from Lou Christie, in which those falsetto la-las are stolen from camp and awarded to abject dread. Imagine Julee Cruise playing the basement party in Blue Velvet. Somewhere, David Lynch has the biggest smile.
[7]
Alfred Soto: That rubbery bass sequencer sends an electric shock through what at first listen would be typical Knife-inflected femme-ennui. The pitch and volume tricks in the second half are the right kind of self-mocking touch.
[6]
John Seroff: Grimes’ Hello-Kitty-meets-The-Knife method works best for me when she/they evoke a bit more chiptune and a bit less John Hughes soundtrack. This is pleasant but hardly compelling.
[6]
Zach Lyon: For me, the striking thing about Grimes that no one seems to dwell on (but sticks out to me with every inkling of her existence) is just how crusty she is. From every interview and video, she comes off as the epitome of modern crust punk — the whole riverboat thing is almost a cliche at this point, and lord, how many likes can she fit into a single sentence? It’s not long before we learn the color of her dog’s bandana. So it’s strange (to me) to see her presented and handled and hyped (no idea how much of this is her and how much the indie hype machine) as the Next Big Underground Gothy Electropop Queen, when she’s honestly a bit more interesting than that. And it’s the fact that she doesn’t really fit into that box that makes her music so compelling to so many people. There are levels of lo-fi DIY here and an affection for folky (or folk-punky), big melodies, and an ever-present engagement with pure camp — check out the Sega Genesis soundbite that completely owns the final third of the track. This separates her from the super-cleanliness of The Knife or Charli XCX; she’s not necessarily better than that standard, but I’m in love with the dynamic.
[8]
Iain Mew: The Knife meets Del Shannon meets… Look Around You? The wobbly synth tone specifically reminds me of school TV science programmes, as I realised when I heard “Oblivion” for only the second or third time while in a science lab themed bubble tea place with blackboards and molecular models, and it sounded absolutely perfect. Grimes does not use her evocative science synths in a staid and educational manner though, but as a manic mad scientist mashing ideas together with invention and glee. Her infectious delight in the possibilities of sound, even when the words suggest darkness, are what makes “Oblivion” work as more than just a showcase for some great sounds.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: We all know synthesizers got revived, but when did Del Shannon happen?
[6]
Jonathan Bogart: If only Elizabeth Fraser had had the presence of mind to quote Del Shannon in 1987. As it is, we’ll have to do with Grimes’ fanfic.
[9]
Sabina Tang: Grimes’ voice flutters and sparkles over electro squelches and stripped-down beatbox shuffle like… well, like a gorgeous Victoria Bergsman-esque pop melody over a GarageBand instrumental demo. By some miracle, the fairy dust and the bog water knit together into effective magic.
[8]