Grimes talks new music, motherhood, and going to Mars

In the year since Grimes released her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, she’s become a mother, created an AI lullaby, and almost finished her next record. Now, the artist has taken to YouTube to answer fans’ burning questions about the last – and next – 12 months.

As reported by Stereogum, in a Q&A under a stream of her lullaby, Grimes opened up about her forthcoming album. The musician said she’s currently finishing vocals and mixes, and “maybe trying to make another song”. Discussing a possible release date, Grimes said she’s hoping to have new music out in two months, but added that business complications and the pandemic might get in the way.

When asked which lyrics from her new material she’s most proud of, Grimes simply responded: “My whole new album.”

Moving on to motherhood, the artist revealed that she enjoys parenting more than she expected – though isn’t a fan of the word “parenting” – but said the night baby X Æ A-Xii had croup (a common childhood infection) “was really scary and gave me profound connection to trauma of human experience around losing children”.

Grimes added that becoming a mother has made her feel “less hate, more optimism, more creativity, more desire for life, and more respect for women”.

The musician also answered questions about civilisation’s forthcoming move to Mars – as predicted by her boyfriend, Elon Musk, who reckons humans will land on the planet in just six years. Grimes said she would be willing to travel to Mars after she turns 50, but only if Musk uploads her consciousness to an artificial body before he leaves. Despite carving out a career as a successful musician, Grimes believes she’ll be doing manual labour when she gets to Mars, but is optimistic that “hopefully that can change”.

Speaking of upcoming collaborations, Grimes said she’s already working with Caroline Polachek – “Caroline and I have started a thing,” she explained, “but she’s really good at music and it’s damned complex” – and didn’t rule out future collabs with Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, Jazmin Bean, and Doja Cat. 

She also said she’s grappling with her relationship with Marilyn Manson, who was her favourite artist growing up. After learning of his alleged abuse towards Evan Rachel Wood, Grimes is “v conflicted” and has “lots of thoughts”.

Finally, Grimes talked about politics and her 2015 album Art Angels. On politics, she said communism wouldn’t work because “freedom and equality are a spectrum and are on opposite sides”, adding she is “against policing generally”. On Art Angels, she said: “It’s fucking fire and people need to stop trying to turn it into drama. The people who keep trying to cancel me are annoying.”