Grimes & VADAKIN, ACCELERANDO → Song Review

Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes and producer VADAKIN deliver a certified bop with the colorful, high-flying single, “ACCELERANDO.”  

“Memorize my number / I need the bass, girl God of thunder…” Captivating lyrics! So… what happens when Grimes (Claire Elise Boucher) and VADAKIN (Elijah Hill) collaborate? Why, “ACCELERANDO,” of course! Also, musical magic! Grimes never gives listeners a dull moment.  “ACCELERANDO,” set to appear on Grimes’ forthcoming 2027 album, Psyopera, is no exception. Grimes, VADAKIN, Elley Duhé, and Skyler Stonestreet composed it.  Grimes and VADAKIN produced it.  Notably, Duhé and Stonestreet also lend their vocals, while VADAKIN plays synthesizer.

“ACCELERANDO” is distorted and noisy from the get-go. The sound is ‘in-your-face.’ A sickening groove arrives after the initial distorted sound.  There are colorful synths and rhythmic cues. Grimes delivers her signature high-pitched vocals. “Oppenheimer Barbie, mindless machine army,” she sings in the verse, and continues, “American lobotomy /… Accelerando, better than a Van Gogh?” After hearing the chorus (the intro, excerpted earlier) in context, Grimes’s direction makes far more sense. The chorus, in its entirety, plays out as follows:

“Memorize my number (Ah)

I need the bass, girl God of thunder

Expensive taste, you get a weapon or a war

Either way, let’s carnivore

Based, baby, softcore.”

I love the legato bridge, accompanied by intense rhythmic synths.  The melody here is beautiful and quite tuneful (“Call my name, call my name / Breathe in simulated air, baby”). The tempo briefly slackens before it accelerates – fitting given the musical title! The ear-catching, ‘infectious’ chorus returns. A great instrumental outro maintains the spirit, with a kinder, gentler synth concluding. Ultimately, “ACCELERANDO” is a bop from Grimes and VADAKIN. The record’s sound and spirit truly ‘take the cake.’