St. Vincent

It’s often difficult to easily describe just what makes a St.
Vincent album such a special work of art. Annie Clark, the brains
behind indie-rock act St. Vincent, gloriously stands out in the sea of
female singer/songwriters. For one thing, her albums sound like nothing
else released that year. She brutally resists the comforting notion
that a female songwriter makes fluffy, airy songs about love and life.
Sure, her songs concern those matters, but the way she presents them
displays a creative force the likes of which have not been harnessed by
anyone — male or female — this decade. Clark’s musical
arrangements, however, are what put her music into an echelon all by
herself. Her latest work, Actor, employs a massive sound —
a building aural force that peaks in a crescendo of menacing violins,
thundering drums, and frenetic guitars. Songs like “The Party” and
“Just the Same but Brand New” both start out as light-hearted jaunts,
later culminating in a beautiful clash of overwhelming melodies. Clark
will no doubt bring such force to the stage, stomping her way through
her set while losing herself in musical brilliance.