The third release by Montreal indie auteur Claire Boucher, a.k.a. Grimes, keeps floating away. Boucher, who cooked up this music in her bedroom using GarageBand, is full of interesting rhythmic and melodic ideas. At its finest, in songs like "Vowels = space and time" and the sumptuous ballad "Skin," Visions is like Etsy Timbaland: catchy, eerily minimalist electro soul, poked and prodded by unsettling beats. But Boucher's voice is all airy top end: She sounds like the cross between a J-pop pipsqueak and Alvin and the Chipmunks. It's an irksome, sometimes shrill sound; often, her lyrics are unintelligible. The result is an emptiness at the center of the record: Grimes isn't spooky enough to be "ghostly," and not substantial enough to hold your attention.

Listen to "Vowels = space and time":

Related
• Photos: Random Notes

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”