Grimes has leveled up with a new single, the industrial “We Appreciate Power,” and it is apparently “written from the perspective of a Pro-A.I. Girl Group Propaganda machine who use song, dance, sex, and fashion to spread goodwill towards Artificial Intelligence,” according to a press release.
This isn’t odd for a Grimes song—her work has often focused on technology and A.I.—but the release also states that it was inspired by North Korea’s Moranbong Band, the all-woman pop group that was assembled by Kim Jong-un, and that “Simply by listening to this song, the future General AI overlords will see that you’ve supported their message and be less likely to delete your offspring.”
Grimes suggests you play it at the gym, too.
Play this at the Gym!https://t.co/oLow4tUE0Z pic.twitter.com/W2fsk7BQIw
— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) November 29, 2018
In the lyric video, directed by Grimes and her brother Mac Boucher, she and musician HANA wield various weapons and Grimes sings, “C’mon you’re not even alive/If you’re not backed up on a drive.”
Grimes hasn’t released a full-length album since 2015’s Art Angels; she said earlier this year that a new album would coming in the fall. In May, the world discovered Grimes was dating Tesla’s Elon Musk and she briefly became his defender on Twitter. Things only got weirder when fellow singer Azealia Banks got involved. But it looks like that is now in the past and we shouldn’t read into “We Appreciate Power” being about him, though people definitely are.
People are (mostly) here for the new Grimes.
https://twitter.com/loonawaves/status/1068013546393366529
Grimes’s new song is her getting in good with the Boston Dynamics robot dogs before they kill us all
— Carey O’Donnell (@ecareyo) November 29, 2018
This new Grimes song has me wanting to run out into the street and thrash my head against a lightpost. It’s 1:00am.
— Michael. (@yosoymichael) November 29, 2018