Grimes says Psy Opera will come in two parts, starting with AI not Elon Musk
Grimes will return with Psy Opera, her first full-length album in six years, and she says the opening instalment is not about Elon Musk.
The singer discussed the record on the 11 October episode of Swiftologist's Proto Pop podcast, one day before details were reported by Billboard. She said the first Psy Opera album is entirely conceptual and heavily inspired by her relationship to artificial intelligence.
The project is organised into two parts. Grimes said the second part will be 100% personal and offer more insight into her personal life. She was direct about the split. She did not want the first album to be about Musk.
That distinction matters. Grimes and Musk separated in 2022 and have three children together. During a later custody dispute, Grimes said she did not see one of her babies for five months.
On AI, her position was specific. Grimes said she used generative AI, software that creates audio from prompts and existing material, on only one track on Psy Opera. The rest, by her account, does not lean on the technology in the same way.
No release date has been announced. Grimes first revealed plans for Psy Opera to Interview magazine in spring 2026. She has since released the song ‘Accelerando’ as the first taste of the album, as reported by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
Grimes has described Psy Opera as covering what she witnessed as a woman of history during her hiatus from pop music. For fans, this means two distinct records are coming. One looks outward to ideas about AI. The other looks inward.
