Strange Mercy, the beguiling new album from St. Vincent is an unsparing examination of personal catharsis cloaked in some of the most sublime music of Annie Clark’s career. “Many of the songs are about wanting relief from pain, and searching high and low for release,” attests Clark. Such powerful emotions prompted — demanded, really — not just a bracingly candid lyrical style but a new musical approach. St. Vincent’s acclaimed 2007 debut album Marry Me was created almost entirely on a laptop; the exquisite follow-up, 2009′s Actor, was a collection of arrangements fashioned into ornately structured songs.
Strange Mercy, she says, is different. “I just wrote the songs first and didn’t worry about the embellishments. On the last album, I could play about three songs by myself on guitar. On this album, I can play every song that way.” Strange Mercy features very little of the baroque strings, woodwinds, and reeds that marked Actor, and the grooves are sturdy, deep and beguiling. “I wanted to make things direct and immediate,” Clark says. “I didn’t tinker. I tried to keep the arrangements pretty simple and use just enough instrumentation to get the point across. I didn’t want anything to get in the way.” Consequently, it’s a much more guitar-oriented album than Clark has ever made. My favorite song “Cruel” on this album exemplifies this. For the video St. Vincent teamed with Terri Timely to create a video filled with dark comedy.
The directing team Terri Timely (aka Ian Kibbey and Corey Creasey) has a good streak going with St. Vincent, their three collaborative clips: “Actor Out of Work”, “Marrow”, and their newest and best video, “Cruel”. Kibbey and Creasey’s manicured, creepy, and deadpan style is a perfect fit for Clark’s studiously composed yet off-kilter music, where danger always seems to lurk just beyond the next spazzy guitar solo. “Cruel” is a comedy of horrors in which Clark is kidnapped by a mom-starved family, who proceed to torment the singer before sending her to an early grave.
By: Elizabeth Stene | Beat-Play Ambassador South Africa | @LizMWL | Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC
