If you had to bet on which artist would be at the forefront of using AI in music, Grimes would have been a pretty safe pick.
The Canadian recently weighed in on the use of artificial intelligence in the arts, insisting that she’d split royalties for any song that used her voice.
Just weeks later, we have the first example of GrimesAI, and it involves an Australian.
The Los Angeles-based Aussie producer Kito has released “Cold Touch”, an energetic dance track that traverses EDM, euphoric pop and drum and bass.
On first listen, “Cold Touch” sounds like it contains the voice of Claire Boucher, but it’s in fact the voice of Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, whose vocals have been manipulated using Grimes’ new AI platform Elf.Tech.
Elf.Tech works by allowing anyone – literally anyone – to input their own vocals and download a reworked version of the track with the inclusion of Grimes’ tones.
It’s worked out for Kito so far, with Grimes hailing their track as a “masterpiece.” A number of musicians have been posting their own tracks containing Grimes’ Elf.Tech-warped vocals, but Kito’s is the first official GrimesAI release.
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And the Aussie producer is likely in for a big payday, with Grimes stating that she’s split royalties 50/50 with any successful AI-generated track.
“It’s kind of strange to be chatting with Grimes,” Kito told The Face about the experience. “This song is a collaboration because it wouldn’t exist without being inspired by Grimes’ music, but it exists without her participation, besides the platform.”
Kito’s now worked with Skrillex, Jorja Smith and artificially-altered Grimes – I wonder who was the most accommodating collaborator?
You can listen to Kito and GrimesAI’s track below. Welcome to the future of music – it’s scary and exciting in equal measure.
Kito’s “Cold Touch” (ft. GrimesAI) is out now.
