- Words Josephine Amstad
Grimes expands further into the world of Artificial Intelligence with the announcement of her AI girl band, NPC.
When it comes to fusing AI and music, Grimes is an expert. From releasing an AI lullaby, to creating a space opera album revolving around an AI lesbian love affair, Grimes is even on the judging panel for a CGI singing competition, Alter Ego. It makes perfect sense that next on the agenda is the announcement of her AI girl band, NPC.
Grimes name-dropped NPC (“non-player characters”?) on her Instagram earlier in November, stating: “haha we’re stuck on making their faces so we don’t have pics yet omg”, but we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer. NPC features on British house DJ Chris Lake’s track “A Drug From God” which dropped on November 12th but has been blazing its way through the festival circuit since back in May.
With its haunting build-up, heavy bass infused drop and arpeggiated vocal hook from Grimes, the track is bound to be a dance music crowd pleaser. The futuristic track perfectly matches NPC’s science fiction nature, with Grimes explaining the girl group is influenced by ‘spiritual technology’ and has infinite members that can be voted in and out.
An accompanying press release states: ‘NPC can do all the things humans cannot. NPC will eventually be playable, customizable, and able to cater to each individual listener’s unique desires. Decentralized Popstardom. Made, not Born.’
With “A Drug From God” a taster for what’s to come, whatever NPC ends up looking like, we trust visionary artist Grimes won’t disappoint.