With equal parts art rock and prog rock, St. Vincent is a product of the genre-less streaming age where the traditional borders of music scenes no longer exist. She’s a shapeshifting guitar virtuoso who echoes the reinventions of David Bowie and the haunting voices of Kate Bush.
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Annie Clark studied at Berklee College of Music and returned to Dallas to play guitar with the Polyphonic Spree before joining Sufjan Stevens’ touring band in 2006. The same year, she began recording music under the name St. Vincent. Nick Cave’s song “There She Goes, My Beautiful World” and its lyric And Dylan Thomas died drunk in St. Vincent’s hospital provided Clark with her moniker.
Clark released her debut album Marry Me in 2007, followed by Actor in 2009 and Strange Mercy in 2011. Meanwhile, she collaborated with David Byrne on Love This Giant (2012) and released her critically acclaimed self-titled album in 2014.
With each striking release, Clark mastered the art of juxtaposition. She followed the pop veneer of Masseduction (2017) with the sepia-toned ’70s-inspired Daddy’s Home (2021).
In addition, she produced Sleater-Kinney’s The Center Won’t Hold, designed her own guitar, recorded with Sheryl Crow, and co-directed the horror anthology film XX.
Her forthcoming album, All Born Screaming, is due April 26. So, if you are new to St. Vincent and don’t know where to begin, consider the following list your baptism into Annie Clark’s vibrant kaleidoscopic world.
5. “Surgeon,” from Strange Mercy (2011)
On this Strange Mercy track, Clark turns a Marilyn Monroe diary entry about her acting coach, Lee Strasberg, into a hook. Monroe wrote, “Best, finest surgeon, Lee Strasberg. Come cut me open.” The song ends with a warbling synth solo courtesy of Bobby Sparks, though Clark transforms the synth part into a sci-fi guitar solo for live performances.
Turn off the TV, wade in bed
A blue and a red
A little something to get along, get along, get along
Get along, get along, get along
Best, finest surgeon
Come cut me open
4. “Los Ageless,” from Masseduction (2017)
In the Steely Dan song “Show Biz Kids,” the group calls Las Vegas “Lost Wages,” and Clark referenced the song when describing how her’s captured the “Peter Pan quality” of Los Angeles. Moreover, in a city known for glamour, there’s an overriding fear of aging. “Los Ageless” also features Clark’s aunt and uncle, who comprise the jazz duo Tuck & Patti. Clark’s aunt (Patti) sings, “How can anybody have you?” while her uncle (Tuck) plays guitar.
In Los Ageless, the winter never comes
In Los Ageless, the mothers milk their young
But I can keep running
No, I can keep running
3. “Cruel,” from Strange Mercy (2011)
To avoid distractions, Clark went to Seattle to write her third album Strange Mercy. So, she rented office space from Death Cab for Cutie drummer Jason McGerr and worked 12 hours daily, writing and recording new music. The sophisticated guitar riff on “Cruel” is a defining moment for Clark, and it impressed Taylor Swift, too. Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” is a descendant of St. Vincent’s “Cruel” and features Clark on guitar. She also co-wrote the No.1 hit with Swift and Jack Antonoff.
Bodies, can’t you see what everybody wants from you?
For you could want that, too
They could take or leave you
So they took you, and they left you
How could they be casually cruel?
2. “New York,” from Masseduction (2017)
Clark told GQ she found inspiration for “New York” walking around her East Village neighborhood. She thought of a friend who had moved out of the city, and one day, she sent a text message that said, “New York isn’t New York without you.” She said living in New York in the small space of your neighborhood is like living with “the ghost of yourself and all your heroes.” Thomas Bartlett plays piano, and Antonoff co-produced the song with Clark. Bartlett also co-produced Sufjan Stevens’ heartbreaking masterpiece Carrie & Lowell.
New York isn’t New York without you, love
So far in a few blocks, to be so low
And if I call you from First Avenue
Well, you’re the only mother—-r in the city who can handle me
1. “Digital Witness,” from St. Vincent (2014)
Social media has turned people into obsessive documentarians, and if you don’t post about a happening in your life, does it really happen? Clark speaks to having unlimited connections online while leaving people with very little connection. Regarding her songwriting process, she takes a Nick Cave-like approach, collecting little ideas and melodies and then stowing them away for when it’s time to write another album. When the time arrives, she arranges her day like any other job. You show up and do the work.
Digital witnesses, what’s the point of even sleeping?
If I can’t show it if you can’t see me
What’s the point of doing anything?
This is no time for confessing
I want all of your mind
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Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
