Category: St. Vincent

St. Vincent – Actor (2009)

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Annie Clark (born September 28, 1982), known professionally as St. Vincent, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer.

After studying at Berklee College of Music for three years, St. Vincent began her music career as a member of The Polyphonic Spree. She was also a member of Sufjan Stevens‘s touring band, before forming her own band in 2006. Her work has received consistent praise for its distinct musical style, which blends soft rock, experimental rock, electropop and jazz influences. Her debut album was Marry Me (2007), followed by Actor (2009).

Actor is the second album by musician St. Vincent, released by 4AD on May 4, 2009. The first single released was “Actor out of Work” that April. Annie Clark was influenced by scores to films by Disney and Woody Allen. To prevent writer’s block, Clark watched films without the sound and composed music for her favorite scenes. After arranging the music using GarageBand, she then wrote lyrics and added gentle vocal melodies.

St. Vincent‘s Annie Clark is a unique talent; she’s as much a musician as she is a songwriter, and both her sounds and her words are delicately uncompromising. She blends rock, jazz, electronic, and classical touches together so seamlessly that it doesn’t seem remarkable, and as lovely as her voice and music can be, she’s too strange and too smart to be merely winsome. Marry Me was as bold as its title proposal suggested, uniting her sardonic, whip-smart viewpoint and jaunty music into songs with beacon-like clarity. Things are murkier, but no less fascinating, on Actor, Marry Me‘s darker and more ambitious follow-up.

Musically and lyrically, the album often feels like a duel (and occasionally, a duet) between Clark‘s collected, literate side and her raging emotions. This is especially striking on Actor‘s arrangements and instrumentation, which are even more expressive than they were on Marry Me. “The Strangers” opens the album with choral vocals, woodwinds, and typically charming/unsettling lyrics: “Desperate doesn’t look good on you/Neither does your virtue.” But before things get too dainty, massively distorted guitar and drums let out the fury that’s been brewing in the song the entire time (later, “The Bed” offers an even sharper contrast between innocence and violence). “Marrow” is just as startling, switching from pretty to abrasive and back again with a swiftness that’s surprising, even knowing how fond Clark is of turning her songs on their sides. She also loves couching uncomfortable moments in sweet sounds and vice versa, so it’s no surprise that Actor‘s poppiest songs are its most disturbing.

On the album’s single, the forceful rocker “Actor Out of Work,” she pulls in and levels a lover in just over two minutes, beginning with alluring “oohs” and then twisting the knife with putdowns like “You’re the curses through my teeth” — the song’s brisk dance between hot and cold is dazzling. Likewise, “Laughing with a Mouth of Blood” pairs the album’s most gruesome song title with one of its most honeyed melodies. As brilliantly as Clark uses these contrasts, at times they threaten to overpower Actor‘s songs, and the slightly more straightforward, Marry Me-like tracks such as “Save Me from What I Want” and “The Party” help balance the album with some breathing space. Similarly, while the album’s elaborately layered sounds are engrossing, they tend to overshadow Clark‘s equally thoughtful lyrics at first — although when she sings “Tomorrow’s some kind of stranger who I’m not supposed to see” on “The Neighbors,” it’s with more palpable emotion than anything she sang on Marry Me. “The Sequel” ends Actor on a fittingly uneasy, open-ended note, given all the complexities that came before it.

This is some of St. Vincent‘s most complicated music, but its fearless creativity rewards repeated listening, as Clark has few rivals when it comes to seducing ears and challenging minds at the same time.

Tracklist

1.  “The Strangers” – 4:05
2.  “Save Me from What I Want” – 3:35
3.  “The Neighbors” – 3:31
4.  “Actor out of Work” – 2:15
5.  “Black Rainbow” – 4:11
6.  “Laughing with a Mouth of Blood” – 3:02
7.  “Marrow” – 3:24
8.  “The Bed” – 3:43
9.  “The Party” – 4:05
10.  “Just the Same but Brand New” – 5:24
11.  “The Sequel” – 1:54

All tracks written and arranged by Annie Clark.

Musicians

Production

  • John Congleton – production, recording, mixing
  • Annie Clark – production, additional recording
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Scott Solter – additional recording
  • Annabel Mehran – photography
  • Lever and Beam – management

Notes
Released:  May 4, 2009
Recorded at:  Studio Elmwood Studio, The Track Studio (Plano, Texas)
Genre:  Baroque pop, indie pop, progressive pop, art pop
Length:  39:09

Label – 4AD Records