On ‘St. Vincent’, Annie Clark has performed a neat sidestep onto pop’s crowded dancefloor, brushing aside multi-purpose beats and callow melodies to offer something altogether more interesting: a record to engage hips and head in equal measure.
‘St. Vincent’ flits from crazed electro to sombre ballads in a matter of moments, injecting Clark’s meticulous, thrillingly heavy guitar work alongside a rhythm section that, in her own words, “totally killed” it.
There are elements of her previous guises dotted throughout, whether on the brass workout of Digital Witness, a nod to ‘Love This Giant’, her collaborative effort with David Byrne of Talking Heads, or the echoes of The Neighbors’ dreamlike haze on Prince Johnny and I Prefer Your Love.
The musical magpie in her, meanwhile, is active too in the Iommiscuzz of Huey Newton’s outro and the addictive Devo worship at the heart of Birth In Reverse.
Underpinning the flourishes, though, are some of the finest songs of Clark’s career. Each one possesses melodic weight, with the more expressive passages neatly tied in by idiosyncratic vocals and complementary guitar lines, which often work beautifully by adding introductory phrases and nagging secondary hooks.
Clark’s colourful, evocative lyrics parlay colourful, evocative fact into another element of the record’s appeal. On Rattlesnake, she is startled from a naked commune with nature by the titular serpent, while on Huey Newton she pays tribute to an Ambien-induced trip she shared with the founder of the Black Panthers.
There is stark, unsettling emotion at the heart of Prince Johnny while Digital Witness, beneath its exuberant surface, is an examination of the seemingly endless intrusion of social media into our day-to-day existence. ‘St. Vincent’ is the rarest of things: a pop album with the capacity to move you. Annie Clark is a treasure.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
.jpg)
