St. Vincent Confidently Flirts with Musical Genres
On her new album All Born Screaming, Annie Clark aka St. Vincent doesn't linger in the same place for very long. She confidently changes musical genres and is strong both in the urgently romantic melodies as well as the surprisingly edgy industrial twists she cleverly flirts with.
For Annie Clark, her alter ego St. Vincent has been a mask behind which she has been hiding a series of negative and violent images of the world, wrapped in a shell of emotive choruses and emphatic arrangements. On her seventh full-length, All Born Screaming, she decided to take off her mask for a while and she rocks out like never before.
The dark, slow opening track "Hell Is Near" is immediately replaced by disturbing lyrics and distorted guitar riffs in the song "Reckless", which sizzles with an industrial contrast between melody and noise. Here, provocative synth pop goes hand in hand with raw subjective confession, a theme St. Vincent continues in the funk-infused single "Big Time Nothing," reflecting on the fake nature of online life.
Another funky riff in the style of Talking Heads dominates the title and closing track "All Born Screaming", while "Violent Times" echoes the James Bond film classic through suspenseful brass arrangements. The playfulness and melodic variety of "Broken Man" is disturbed by roaring Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana, Foo Fighters) with his drum syncopations, whose energetic feel spills over into the punchy "Flea".
The song "Breathless" evokes the emotional intensity of Nine Inch Nails, unpredictably wavering between dream pop, alternative rock, industrial and 80s electronic music. Annie attempts to find beauty in the chaos on "Sweetest Fruit," the album's wildest track.
What can you appreciate about the album as a musician?
Synths, dirty guitars and elements of modern rock have an innovative edge in Saint Vincent's music, writing the next chapter of her musical journey. The irony and fun are underlined by the ubiquitous synthpop groove that the musician combines with other musical deviations. She embarks eagerly on musical jams, in which dancing keyboards bubble on one side, while energetic drums, rock guitar riffs and thumping bass respond on the other. Annie produced the record herself and did a great job. In the new tracks, she has combined compositional skill with an unusual array of sonic elements, which she confidently serves up in a deceptively surreal and unapologetic manner.
St. Vincent – All Born Screaming
Total Pleasure Rcords, 00:41:14
synth pop/pop/rock
80 %
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