Grimes‘s foray into the world of tech has been a frustrating one. The way she embraced a generative version of her voice without the guardrails or considerations of similar projects from years ago seemed to reinforce a defeatist attitude around the technology and, it could be argued, gave the companies that control music a template for making a reduced presence of human beings in songs an acceptable and even cool concept. She has also said some really out-of-pocket shit.
It’s been a bumpy road, but Grimes’s interest in releasing music with her own voice is still a thing (allegedly, anyway. These A.I. replicas are very convincing!). Her new song, “I Wanna Be Software,” a technicolor electro-clash track produced by Illangelo, couldn’t have come at a better time. Right now, young content creators are embracing something called “NPC streaming.” It's a form of role-playing where the streamer acts like an NPC (Non-Playable Character) from RPGs in exchange for donations. Donate a certain level of money, and the streamer will perform a set action for you, like saying a phrase or performing a gesture. Certain streamers are making upwards of $7,000 a day, so the trend is not going away anytime soon.
Grimes knows of this phenomenon and has conveyed her approval, so it’s fair to position “I Wanna Be Software” as an anthem for this new class of performer. Grimes’s vocals on the verses adopt the dead-eyed quality of the NPC streamers with a good helping of glitchiness to emphasize and celebrate the inhumanity. It’s on the hook when she starts singing that the irony breaks and a bit of catharsis breaks through – the melodies are, crucially, an ever-so-slight throwback to Visions, helping make “Software” one of the more engaging pieces of music she’s has put out in a minute. Hear it above.
