Grimes has shared new 'Psy Opera' album details
The record is 'not quite done' but AI remains a central theme.
Grimes has offered a glimpse into her forthcoming album 'Psy Opera', noting that despite her public association with artificial intelligence, the record was created without the use of generative AI tools.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Interview, the Canadian artist — who hasn't released a full-length project since 2020's 'Miss Anthropocene' — opened up about stepping away from music entirely before finding her way back. "I couldn't listen to music without getting PTSD. I was only interested in writing and reading," she said, explaining that she had "totally quit music a couple of years ago" with plans to be a "stay-at-home mom".
Poetry proved to be the unexpected gateway back to songwriting. "I started writing poetry, and then someone was like, 'Can you write a rap for this K-pop artist?' I started writing the rap and I was like, 'This is too good. I'm keeping this because it's crazy'. But then we had a problem for eight months where I was just a white rapper," she recalled.
Much of the early material written for the record took on a confrontational tone, born from what Grimes described as "going through various stages of nihilism and vengefulness". "Luckily we moved past that, but it was this really cathartic thing. I actually took most of the stuff off the record because it was violently aggressive," she said. "I would not play it for the public, but I could send you some of the lyrics. For most people, it's better to talk it out in therapy or whatever, but for me, I just have to burn it off.
"I think that's the huge privilege of an artist. Nothing can hurt you because every bit of pain you've lived allows you to make great things."
A shift in mood arrived more recently. "Then the last three months or so, I started being like, 'Do I feel emotions for music again?' And then I was like, 'Hey guys, we've got to crank out some pop songs. We can't just have an experimental spoken word album with biblical screeds'," she shared. The album remains "not quite done" at present.
On the subject of AI — a topic that has followed Grimes closely — she was blunt: "I actually don't use it in my music. People have really misunderstood me here." That said, she acknowledged using Chinese AI model DeepSeek to assist with lyrics on a track named after it. The broader theme of artificial intelligence still runs through 'Psy Opera', with Grimes reflecting: "I was thinking about how everyone is like, 'We're building gods'. I'm like, 'Why do you automatically assume you're so much lesser? You're literally responsible for creating AI. You're abdicating so much self-esteem and pride and responsibility and agency when you act like whatever AI is, no one has a hand in it'.
"And I was getting emotional because we might really go extinct, for a number of reasons. Human life is very frail and time is very long. But I'd hope, if we had good relations with AI, they would take our DNA and make more of us when things get more hospitable."
Her stance on copyright and open-source creativity also came up. Grimes had previously encouraged fans to use her AI-generated voice freely, explaining: "I was like, 'Whatever, use my voice, you can be Grimes'. 'I'll do a revenue share and all publishing splits can go 50-50 with fans on blockchain'. We did it more as an economic experiment." She added that she "think[s] copyright is important, but I also think there's ways in which it can totally change", noting: "And you can definitely be paying people for things like fan fiction. So we're publishing a white paper on that now, because it's a pretty good business model."
When discussing last year's single 'Artificial Angels', written from the perspective of AI, Grimes had previously stated: "It's only useful to me for novel/ experimental sound design were they to allow that aspect back. Or possibly for more efficient advanced things like bg noise removal etc… Or for jokes. Otherwise I fear it is a bit slop oriented at the moment which seems like the opposite of innovation to me. It def has the capacity to innovate tho."
Grimes reserved her strongest words for the geopolitical implications of AI development: "We need to support companies like Anthropic. We need to be aware of what's going on, and why it's dangerous. For the last six years, everyone's been like, 'Stop talking about this AI nonsense'. And I've been like, 'Guys, we're going to end up in a military disaster. Will anyone listen to me?'
"Not to be on my high horse, but this is the most dangerous thing that is ever going to happen. This is a bigger deal than Jesus. It's the same as monotheism taking over the Western world, if not much, much more impactful."
Earlier this month, Grimes made a surprise appearance during Cobrah's Coachella set, debuting a collaborative track called 'Sign From God'.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Interview, the Canadian artist — who hasn't released a full-length project since 2020's 'Miss Anthropocene' — opened up about stepping away from music entirely before finding her way back. "I couldn't listen to music without getting PTSD. I was only interested in writing and reading," she said, explaining that she had "totally quit music a couple of years ago" with plans to be a "stay-at-home mom".
Poetry proved to be the unexpected gateway back to songwriting. "I started writing poetry, and then someone was like, 'Can you write a rap for this K-pop artist?' I started writing the rap and I was like, 'This is too good. I'm keeping this because it's crazy'. But then we had a problem for eight months where I was just a white rapper," she recalled.
Much of the early material written for the record took on a confrontational tone, born from what Grimes described as "going through various stages of nihilism and vengefulness". "Luckily we moved past that, but it was this really cathartic thing. I actually took most of the stuff off the record because it was violently aggressive," she said. "I would not play it for the public, but I could send you some of the lyrics. For most people, it's better to talk it out in therapy or whatever, but for me, I just have to burn it off.
"I think that's the huge privilege of an artist. Nothing can hurt you because every bit of pain you've lived allows you to make great things."
A shift in mood arrived more recently. "Then the last three months or so, I started being like, 'Do I feel emotions for music again?' And then I was like, 'Hey guys, we've got to crank out some pop songs. We can't just have an experimental spoken word album with biblical screeds'," she shared. The album remains "not quite done" at present.
On the subject of AI — a topic that has followed Grimes closely — she was blunt: "I actually don't use it in my music. People have really misunderstood me here." That said, she acknowledged using Chinese AI model DeepSeek to assist with lyrics on a track named after it. The broader theme of artificial intelligence still runs through 'Psy Opera', with Grimes reflecting: "I was thinking about how everyone is like, 'We're building gods'. I'm like, 'Why do you automatically assume you're so much lesser? You're literally responsible for creating AI. You're abdicating so much self-esteem and pride and responsibility and agency when you act like whatever AI is, no one has a hand in it'.
"And I was getting emotional because we might really go extinct, for a number of reasons. Human life is very frail and time is very long. But I'd hope, if we had good relations with AI, they would take our DNA and make more of us when things get more hospitable."
Her stance on copyright and open-source creativity also came up. Grimes had previously encouraged fans to use her AI-generated voice freely, explaining: "I was like, 'Whatever, use my voice, you can be Grimes'. 'I'll do a revenue share and all publishing splits can go 50-50 with fans on blockchain'. We did it more as an economic experiment." She added that she "think[s] copyright is important, but I also think there's ways in which it can totally change", noting: "And you can definitely be paying people for things like fan fiction. So we're publishing a white paper on that now, because it's a pretty good business model."
When discussing last year's single 'Artificial Angels', written from the perspective of AI, Grimes had previously stated: "It's only useful to me for novel/ experimental sound design were they to allow that aspect back. Or possibly for more efficient advanced things like bg noise removal etc… Or for jokes. Otherwise I fear it is a bit slop oriented at the moment which seems like the opposite of innovation to me. It def has the capacity to innovate tho."
Grimes reserved her strongest words for the geopolitical implications of AI development: "We need to support companies like Anthropic. We need to be aware of what's going on, and why it's dangerous. For the last six years, everyone's been like, 'Stop talking about this AI nonsense'. And I've been like, 'Guys, we're going to end up in a military disaster. Will anyone listen to me?'
"Not to be on my high horse, but this is the most dangerous thing that is ever going to happen. This is a bigger deal than Jesus. It's the same as monotheism taking over the Western world, if not much, much more impactful."
Earlier this month, Grimes made a surprise appearance during Cobrah's Coachella set, debuting a collaborative track called 'Sign From God'.
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