AD Loves is a feature I’m using to highlight specific records that I (reasonably) believe will improve your life, up to some point. As my computer broke there are missing AD <3z for: Schoolboy Q, that Lamar/Gunplay joint (yes, it’s so impressive it deserves to be considered alongside whole albums), BURIAL, teen suicide and others.

The level of sincerity within pop songs is a weird thing to consider when writing reviews; I mean, who really cares if Katy B is singing about her actual, real, non-fictional life? Cretins who can’t enjoy themselves, probably, that’s who. Still, when listening to Grimes’ newest its almost impossible to shake how direct the tunes are. This is, in part, due to Claire Boucher’s voice, a piercing, high-pitched thing that almost immediately evokes the sad, sad eyes of an upset child. But that’s only part of the picture. The music, you see, seems so geared towards pushing pleasure centres it can only come straight from the heart. The vocals take a heavy reverb-dousing, and perch high in the mix above reference heavy (R&B, IDM, europop, general dance) pop, with melodies taking precedence over the drones and scratchy recording techniques employed by so many of her weirdo-pop peers. Throughout Visions, emotion and honesty connect with strangeness rather than contrast.

The highlight is undoubtedly Skin, an ethereal, slow-burning R&B jam that basically is TLC hanging out in the clouds. Not saying it stands out by miles, though, everything here is pretty lush.