Daddy's Home

St. Vincent

Released on 14-05-2021 by Loma Vista Recordings
Main artists: St. Vincent
Genre: Alternative en Indie

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We are at the point now in Annie Clark's career as St. Vincent that the parlor game of "autobiography, high concept, or both?" has become de rigueur with each album release. To be sure, Clark has never hewn closely (or, really, at all) to the dynamic of confessional songwriter that too often is expected of women making music, but the way that she teases out moments from her own life, recontextualizes them into fully-built worlds, and then shifts seamlessly between the two, leaves the listener unsure as to whether we're hearing from "Annie Clark," "St. Vincent," a brand-new character, or some amalgamation of the three. And, until Daddy's Home, that conceptual conceit has been the thing that linked St. Vincent most closely to David Bowie. Now, though, Clark is explicitly calling out the Bowie comparisons by making an album steeped in homage to the 1970s of Bowie's creative peak. While Daddy's Home is definitely not a glam-rock album, it's also detached from the maximalism of the last few St. Vincent releases. Instead, it's thick with warm, organic grooves and genre fluidity, evoking the liminal space between Bowie and Luther Vandross on Young Americans as easily as it does the spacey cocaine afterburn of Station to Station. However, while on one hand she's clearly calling out the "character-building" at play here, Clark has also been forthright in interviews surrounding the album in saying that the "daddy" of the title is her actual father, who is now "home" after being in jail for the last few years. The '70s rock vibe of many of the tracks definitely seems to evoke a dad's record collection, and the title track—which is either an abandoned showtune demo or a loose, gritty, and spare piece of indie rock—boasts some incredibly direct lyrics about visiting an inmate and wondering if their badness is your burden; but it's also probably the least interesting cut here musically. "Down and Out Downtown" sounds like "Strange Mercy" (the title track of the third St. Vincent album which turned out to be about her reaction to her father being sent to jail) reworked by the Beastie Boys with a country-sitar vibe. Does that make the album autobiographical? Who knows! Likewise, "The Melting of the Sun" tackles sexism in the entertainment industry, while dizzyingly conflating the struggles of Joni Mitchell with those of Marilyn Monroe. Again: maybe autobiographical? Who knows! This is not a game anyone will win. Instead, look to album opener "Pay Your Way in Pain"—a glitchy, Prince-ly take on analog funk—which seems to be about just making it through the day when you just want to be loved. However, it is unmistakable that the conceit and concept behind Clark's approach here—a warm, slightly sleazy, definitely human take on "rock 'n' roll"—is effective. "Live in the Dream" is a George Harrison-esque piece of dreamy light-psych with a deep vein of pathos, while "The Melting of the Sun" is a slice of soulful psychedelia, complete with background singers and wobbly sonics; they are wisely sequenced next to one another as they seem to form the spiritual core of the album. Similarly, "At the Holiday Party" nearly gets lost near the end of the running order, but it is a singer/songwriter track of the highest order, alternating between stark simplicity, baroque cinematic flourishes, and groove-oriented ecstasy. It's a refreshing and wholly unexpected take for St. Vincent, whoever she may be today. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

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Daddy's Home

St. Vincent

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Pay Your Way In Pain