St Vincent’s most recent offering is an album that goes places you don’t expect, and – even more surprisingly – it’s the first album in about ten years that has woken up my inner air guitarist from a decade long slumber. I thought he was dead! How absolutely awesome. If you can imagine an artier Debbie Harry who plays guitar like Prince trying to make a T-Rex record then you’re almost there…
This rock stomp and groove continues throughout the record with tracks like ‘Birth In Reverse’ and its fantastic noise intro, funky guitar strum and deep synth bass. Album opener ‘Rattlesnake’ melds fuzzy synth bass and guitar heroics like this too. It’s a futuristic sounding groove that seems optimistic, yet cool.
As well as these rock ideas getting new treatments, there are also more experimental sounds on the album. Like ‘Every Tear Disappears’ use of noise and strange synths, sounding like a mangled GameBoy which creates an atmosphere of curiosity and wonder. Or the interesting use of toy piano vamps, harpsichord, and a simple, driving beat on ‘Psychopath’. It would be the track I’d choose to keep awake if I ever had a go on a mission down a desert highway. At night. Unlikely in Scotland, I know, but the idea is exciting! And that’s the kind of imagery this music creates.
St Vincent’s (or should I say Annie Clark’s) voice shines through all these tracks though, and without it, all the guitars, wild experimentation and cool song structures probably wouldn’t mean much. ‘I Prefer Your Love’ may make more sense in America rather than our atheist/agnostic-leaning UK, but there is no doubting it is a beautifully sung and lush sounding ode. ‘Prince Johnny’, a ballad about “knowing when to stand clear” of a badboy, is amazing with its complex narrative and interesting perspective. The line “But honey, don’t mistake my affection for another / spit and penny-style redemption” and “I wanna mean more than I mean to you” shows her confidence and insecurities at the same time.
However, it is confidence that prevails on the album, and becomes a bit of a theme. Or to be more precise, a realisation of confidence. It’s no wonder this is the album of St Vincent’s that gets the self-titled treatment. On the two stand-out tracks, ‘Regret’ and ‘Digital Witness’ the new-found confidence is apparent. Annie tells us she would “Regret the words I’ve bitten more than the ones I’ve ever said” on ‘Regret’; and on ‘Digital Witness’ commands us to “Get back to your seats / Get back, gnashing teeth”; and proclaims “I want all of your mind / Gimme all of your mind”.
She can have it. Whether she is pretending to be a TV in those lyrics or not, I’m certainly paying attention. The songs are good enough to make us all throw shapes around the room to the guitar heroics; swoon to the lush, caramel-like ballads; and chant along with the super-charged choruses… awaiting the next sonic surprise you just can’t predict. It’s early days yet, but St Vincent has certainly set the bar high for anyone competing for an album of the year gong in 2014.