A&E Editor Peter Northfelt and A&E reporter Emily Zentner sat down to talk about Grimes's recent announcement that she won't be releasing a new album.
Emily Zentner: My first impression was that I really don't understand why the Internet is so mean to Grimes in the first place. Every time she does something, there's this pack of people who come out and are mean to her. I mean, she donated money to the Malala Fund.
Peter Northfelt: Yeah, I think so, too. She is known to be sensitive, but the criticism over her opposition to the ALS Foundation is unwarranted. They test on animals!
EZ: Kanye does weird stuff all the time. Every time Grimes expresses an opinion, she's got all of Reddit yelling at her. Something about her just sets them off.
PN: I think the criticism gets wrapped up in what we really should be talking about: her music. I wasn't the biggest fan of her new song, "Go."
EZ: I wasn't really into "Go" either. But she didn't write it for herself to perform. I went into it knowing it was written for Rihanna. I wasn't super pumped thinking, "This is what the album is going to sound like."
PN: I do think she was pandering to the club/music festival crowd with the bass in the song. I think a lot of her stuff from "Visions" was bass-heavy without being too overwhelming.
EZ: It didn't sound like EDM. "Visions" is electronic music without sounding like Skrilllex. "Go" sounds like something that gets played at Mad Decent.
PN: It's a fine line, definitely.
EZ: When I heard she was scrapping the album, it seems like making a new album is a really instinctual process for her and going into that with the criticism in mind will make it not as good.
PN: I guess we can only hope that she'll come back with a more refined/deeper version of her work. I don't know. I want to listen to new Grimes this year, and it looks like we won't have the chance.
EZ: The idea that there's a Grimes album that I'll never listen to is really frustrating. It's like Margaret Atwood putting that book in the literary time capsule — I'll be dead by the time it's available to read.
Reach the arts & entertainment Editor at pnorthfe@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @peternorthfelt. Reach this A&E; reporter at ezentner@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @emilymzentner
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