St. Vincent: Actor
 Almost two years after the release of Marry Me, St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, is back with her sophomore album this May: It's called Actor and she co-produced it with the pAper chAse's John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Thermals, Smog, Polyphonic Spree, etc). Clark wrote/arranged the 11 songs and sings, plays guitar, bass, and keys, but brought on some additional players like Hideaki Aomori (Sufjan Stevens), Alex Sopp (Björk, Phillip Glass), and increased the rhythm section with Midlake's McKenzie Smith and Paul Alexander. The follow-up to St. Vincent's (Annie Clark's) first album "Marry Me" (2007) features eleven new songs, all written and arranged by Clark. The arrangements are more masterful, the songwriting grander, the performances ever more confident and inspired. Clark toured extensively in support of "Marry Me" with artists like The National, Death Cab For Cutie, and Arcade Fire, and was named Female Artist Of The Year at the 2008 PLUG Independent Music Awards. Before recording as St. Vincent, she was a member of The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens' touring band, and she performed with Glenn Branca's guitar orchestra.
Most of the songs are polished, smooth concoctions with lots of classical instrumentation -- piano, twittering flute, sharp drums, horns, and violins that switch between smooth instrumentals and squiggling bow-noises -- as well as weaving in some nimble guitar melodies. But those songs are given odd warps and bends thanks to the synth, which washes itself through every melody -- sweeps, squiggles, fuzzing, and the occasional rich organ. Most of the songs are imbued with a sense of everyday loneliness -- an unhappy trip home, nighttime drives, parties that are over and broken loves. St. Vincent has a rich smooth voice, a knack for clever phrases and a few angular snatches of poetry.
Song List | 1. | The Strangers | | | 2. | Save Me From What I Want | | | 3. | The Neighbors | | | 4. | Actor Out Of Work | | | 5. | Black Rainbow | | | 6. | Laughing With A Mouth Full Of Blood | | | 7. | Marrow | | | 8. | The Bed | | | 9. | The Party | | | 10. | Just The Same But Brand New | | | 11. | The Sequel | |
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