Canadian singer Grimes proud to be a nerd

Claire Boucher, the Canadian musician who has been recording and performing as Grimes since 2010, has blossomed into an international pop star in the space of a year. Since the release of her third full-length album, , on the 4AD label in February 2012, she has toured the world, appeared in multiple editions of , and been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.

Despite her ascent to stardom, she still thinks of herself as a nerd. She tweets about interviews with classical pianist Glenn Gould, worries that she may have misspelled Shakespeare and muses, "I think I've been possessed by [character] George Costanza".

Before dropping out of university, she was studying neuroscience. In her music videos, the fresh-faced singer is not afraid to wear hoodies, oversized coats and shirts that cover her collarbones. referred to her look as "punk-rock Rainbow Brite". She's the sort of woman other women want to befriend. Canadian writer Rebecca Godfrey puts it simply: "I love her."

"I just like to read and work," Boucher says via e-mail from Singapore. "When I say I'm a nerd, I think it's just to express that I'm not a party person, because I think based on the music I make, and my involvement in fashion, most people think I party all the time."

Not that she has had time to give in to Dionysian desires; she's working on a new album, and lately her life has been a flurry of interviews and concerts. Earlier this month, the 25-year-old kicked off her Elf Quest Asia tour (the last one in support of ), which stops off in Hong Kong tomorrow night.

"My dancers couldn't get visas, so we're shifting things around," she says of the upcoming concert at Kitec's Music Zone. "I'm practising today to see what we can do. But it's sort of an ethereal dance experience generally." Boucher spent 11 years training as a ballerina in Vancouver, where she grew up.