The passion of St. Vincent

For St. Vincent’s 4th album released in 2013, self-titled as St. Vincent, the genius of Annie Clark exploded like never before. She brought with it her fascinating writing style, weird and wacky instrumentations, a sumptuous and elastic voice, not to mention an unparalleled final assembly. It’s not something everyone can do: succeed in uniting both a Talking Heads-like spirit and the noteworthy textures of King Crimson, while also leaning in the direction of 80s new wave and Bowie…

Four years later, the Texan multi-instrumentalist has gone down a similar path. St. Vincent heads off again in the most experimental directions, always staying in line with the goal of composing the perfect pop song. In doing so, she never risks becoming an American Björk and stays rooted to her pop DNA. Indeed, it is when she strips back the accompanying instruments that she is at her most convincing. Such is the case for New York; a sublime love letter to a lost love in the Big Apple, put together with a simple piano that in itself makes Masseduction worth buying…

This fifth album also has the particularity of being without a doubt the most personal by the author. Annie Clark exposes herself, opening up about herself and her life like never before. She steers clear of any hot gossip about her past lovers Cara Delevigne or Kristen Stewart, but does use a more intimate language this time round, removing any make-up from her lyrics. These introspections still don’t inhibit any eccentric breaks that sometimes verge on surrealism. Above all, Masseduction is the record from St. Vincent that’s perhaps the most… bowiesque?

2 weeks ago, Annie Clark was invited on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to sing New York and an acoustic version of Los Ageless:

In 2014, Qobuz met up with Annie Clark for the release of her album entitled St. Vincent:

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