When asked his thoughts on the recent advancements in AI platforms, the 76-year-old expressed his fear on it’s potential impact and how he thinks AI could change the music industry for the worse.

May told the magazine, “My major concern with it now is in the artistic area. I think by this time next year the landscape will be completely different. We won’t know which way is up. We won’t know what’s been created by AI and what’s been created by humans,”

He continued, “Everything is going to get very blurred and very confusing, and I think we might look back on 2023 as the last year when humans really dominated the music scene. I really think it could be that serious, and that doesn’t fill me with joy. It makes me feel apprehensive, and I’m preparing to feel sad about this.”

Whilst the English rock legend claims that “a lot of great stuff will come from AI, because it is going to increase the powers of humans to solve problems”, he is still apprehensive about the technological advance, stating “I think the whole thing is massively scary. It’s much more far-reaching than anybody realised — well, certainly than I realised”.

The notion of using computers to generate music is definitely not new, however, recent leaps in AI technology have expanded the possibilities of what computers can do in the music industry. For example, AI platforms such as ChatGPT are now able to replicate songwriting and music production to create entirely computer generated music, therefore eliminating the whole writing and recording process artists go through.

Brian May is not the first musician to share their thoughts on AI’s impact on the music industry, and he definitely won’t be the last.

Nick Cave revealed in his blog, The Red Hand Files, that he believes AI songwriting to be a “grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”, while Sting told the BBC that he isn’t impressed by AI, and songwriters will have to fight to protect “our human capital against AI”.

Some artists however, are seemingly big fans of the way technology is evolving in the music industry. For example, Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes is allowing fans to use her voice in AI generated songs, so long as they share the royalties with her.

I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings. pic.twitter.com/KIY60B5uqt

— Grimes (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023

Brian May‘s conversation with Guitar Player magazine is set to feature in the October 2023 issue, however, you can read the interview online here.

Grimes via TikTok.pic.twitter.com/cheVn5Z4i2

— GRIMES CHARTS (@GrimezszCharts) April 13, 2021

Singers’ fans quickly started commenting with compliments: “OMG Gorgeous” and confusion: “What is it? Some sort of wings?”. Quero shared on the Instagram story few details about the tattoo: “a courageous and beautiful decision and Talisman she will carry with her from here forward, an armor, a spectral field that will affect and protect her in ways unknown but no doubt with a benevolence of some kind”. It’s not Grimes’ first tattoo. Last month she had a birthday ‘tattoo party’ with the same artists. L

ast year was a interesting one for Claire Elise Boucher (aka Grimes). She has released her fifth studio album ‘Miss Anthropocene’ in February that has reached No. 10 in UK Charts and in May she had a baby X with partner Elon Musk. The full baby boy name is X AE A-Xii and she explained the full meaning behind it in one of her twitter posts. She recently shared a few videos of their son on her Instagram stories showing him playing on synthesizer and commenting: “Did you make a loop? You’re so smart”. In her birthday post she added: “It’s my Bday!!! Also lil X made a loop on my keyboard? Prob an accident but tbh he played a super fire set just now”.

So far Grimes doesn’t have any upcoming live shows.

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On September 5, 2019, Grimes released the music video for the first single release off the Miss Anthropocene album Violence which featured the artist  i_o on one of the last tracks he worked on before his death last month. In October of 2019 an unfinished version of Miss Anthropocene leaked online, prompting Grimes to release an art mix and an algorithm mix of the Miss Anthropocene single So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth, which will be the first remixed track on the upcoming album. The artist preformed her now famous song 4æm for the first time at the 2019 Video Game Awards to introduce her character in the game Cyberpunk 2077 which was released 2 weeks ago.

 

 

 

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Grimes will feature many musicians, mixers and producers on Miss Anthropocene: Rave Edition that are from UK and EU, including British-producer Richie Hawtin. Hawtin remixed the single Darkseid, which was recently released as a new remix, acting as Miss Anthropocene: Rave Edition’s second single release. The only other previously released remix from this new album is the latest version of So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth, this version has been mixed by ANNA.

Along with the album release in February, the multiple features and singles released this year, Grimes recently announced the single AI Lullaby with Endel, which acts a sound-escape for children to help them sleep; this is likely inspired by Grimes recent birth of her child X Æ A-12 with Elon Musk. Grimes has also been busy promoting her latest Cyberpunk game which features the song Delicate Weapon which was released along with the game on December 18th.

Grimes does not have any upcoming tour-dates in 2020 or 2021, however, it is unclear whether that is because of safety concerns surrounding the Covid-19 global pandemic, or because she has not headlined a tour since 2016. However, when discussing her latest musical style and genre in the tracks released since 2016, Grimes stated that her music is unplaylistable – which is a huge problem. This not pop. This is not rock. They’re not discernible genres.

Miss Anthropocene: Rave Edition will be released at midnight in the UK on New Years Day, the original album Miss Anthropocene, along with her various singles released in 2020 are all available for streaming on all platforms. Cyberpunk 2077 is available on eBay and Grimes has a new colouring book available for purchase as well. No ticket sales are available at this time.

Miss Anthropocene: Rave Edition Track-List

01 So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (ANNA Remix)
02 Darkseid (Richie Hawtin Remix) [ft. 潘PAN]
03 Delete Forever (Channel Tres Remix)
04 Violence (REZZ Remix) [ft. i_o]
05 4ÆM (Original Mix)
06 New Gods (Tale of Us & Âme Remix)
07 My Name Is Dark (Julien Bracht Remix)
08 You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around (Things You Say Remix)
09 Before the Fever (Original Mix)
10 IDORU (Modeselektor Remix)
11 We Appreciate Power (BloodPop® Remix) [ft. HANA]

This goes further even than Radiohead, however, in making the much coveted raw files available for free to all their fans they have effectively broken down the fourth wall which prevents many so called amateur musicians and producers from getting creative and reworking their favourite songs to make something new and exiting. Remixes have in recent years become almost as an elitist pursuit as music making itself with only the big names in electronic music getting access to the top artist’s materials to make their own statements. It is a very exiting precedent to see a band giving being so generous with their work and allowing absolutely anyone to have a go at making something.

According to NME, ‘the band tipped their hat to Grimes for the idea,’ of releasing the stems and video files with the single as the singer did the same thing when she released ‘You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not There,’ during lockdown this year. The singer said that the decision to release stem files was based on lacking the usual freedom to record in depth videos and the adoption of a green screen approach. Seeing the possibilities available in post production given a short collection of source material, Grimes says in the description of her Youtube video that she felt that ‘because we’re all in lockdown we thought if people are bored and wanna learn new things, we could release the raw components of one of these for anyone who wants to try making stuff using our footage.’

Where Grimes stopped short, however, is on the full scale boycott of streaming platforms which is the approach that King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (KGATLW) seems to have taken on this release. While Grime’s ‘Miss Anthropocene,’ is available on all platforms from downloads on her label 4AD’s website or itunes to premium streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and even Soundcloud. The difference in perspective may be due to the content of KGATLW’s single which, called ‘Automation,’ deals with the thorny issue of artificial intelligence, a technology which already has its claws deep in the music industry through the algorithms which are used by streaming platforms like Spotify.

Unfortunately due to coronavirus the band have no shows scheduled in the UK for the time being, however the band have played a great deal of gigs in the country and were performing in British cities right up until October 2019 when they played at London’s Alexandria Palace. Other UK dates they performed last year include cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Nottingham.

i chose a bunch of my favourite songs and made a tasty little covers album during lockdown and boy am i thrilled for you all to hear it. listen to Realiti and preorder the record at https://t.co/YghwWtKCIk (1/2) pic.twitter.com/gFxplRph69

— Marika Hackman (@MarikaHackman) September 15, 2020

Covers follows 2019’s Any Human Friend, which was widely received as some of Hackman’s best, most honest and self-proclaimed “unifying and sexy” work. Covers will likely allow Hackman to experiment musically and to pour herself into an album while at the same time taking a step back from the light that she shone on herself and her own experiences throughout Any Human Friend.

In addition to the announcement, Hackman shared one of the ten covers: a version of Grimes’ critically acclaimed ‘Realiti’. If this is a sign of what’s to come on Covers, then we should all be getting quite excited! You can listen to it below.

Hackman’s ‘Realiti’ is completely stripped back. The video that she shared sets her vocals against the visual of a car driving along a motorway at night, which produces the most distinctive feeling. Where Grimes’ original makes its mark with layers of electronic beats and synths, the power of Hackman’s version is all in her melodic, melancholic voice.

In addition to an album announcement and a song preview, Hackman has promised a live stream with her entire band on the release date. She will perform in an empty swimming pool. Tickets are available with an album pre-order, all of which can be found here. Alongside your ticket and album, Hackman instructs you to “bring your armbands.”

Speaking about the concept of the album, Hackman said, “when it comes to covers I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.” An album dedicated to covers is a great place to really play with music and style, and it seems like this is exactly Hackman’s goal.

She has chosen to take on some major and distinctive artists, but I think we can expect to hear Beyonce like we’ve never heard her before in Hackman’s newest venture. Likewise, there are few other places that you might hear Grimes and Elliott Smith compliment one another – all in all, it points to a carefully thought out tracklist. It might be two months until anyone can get their hands on it, but already this project feels special.

Tracklist:

1. You Never Wash Up After Yourself (Radiohead)
2. Phantom Limb (The Shins)
3. Playground Love (Air)
4. Realiti (Grimes)
5. Jupiter 4 (Sharon van Etten)
6. Pink Light (MUNA)
7. Between The Bars (Elliott Smith)
8. Temporary Loan (Edith Frost)
9. In Undertow (Alvvays)
10. All Night (Beyonce)

The singer, whose real name Claire Boucher- released her last album Art Angels in 2015, and suggested that her new project could be close at hand, in a Twitter response to a fan.

This is the first form of update on new music that Boucher has given fans since summer, when she posted on Instagram, telling fans she was “in the studio every day trying to legit make something you’ve never heard before.” adding “Unexplored sonic landscapes. Need another month or 2 of pure unadulterated creativity at which point i will begin finishing tracks. won’t let u down.”

In regards to the album’s potential sound, Grimes revealed in another Twitter interaction that video game Dark Souls 3 has supposedly been inspiring some of the tracks on the upcoming, as-yet-untitled LP.

won't be able to finish the book until i'm old cuz the data gathering is intensive. songs r going very well! very inspired by dark souls 3

— Grimes (@Grimezsz) August 6, 2017

Earlier this year, Grimes’ 2012 album Visions was reworked as a classical music work, and released under the name Many Visions: Plumes Deconstructs The Music Of Grimes. Each of the album’s tracks was interpreted by a different composer, in a series of live concerts that took place across Boucher’s native Canada.