Album of the Week: St. Vincent - Actor

Annie Clark has come a long way since her days of being lost in the 10+ member choral indie rock group the Polyphonic Spree. Releasing solo material since 2003 under the moniker of St. Vincent, she has continuously evolved from a faceless background player to an acclaimed solo musician, who with each subsequent release garners even more glowing praise from critics and indie fans alike. And so it has come that Clark has finally assembled an album that fully lives up to her previous potential, Actor. Though 2007’s Marry Me was a fine album, it was marred by a shear lack of distinctiveness. This is not the case with Actor, for not only has Clark finally found her own voice, but the album itself is sonically unique and engaging – a collection of theatrical pop rock that is instantly accessible while experimenting with instrumentation and song dynamics. The songs are often dark, with lyrics examining the fragility of human relationships (Laughing with a Mouth of Blood, The Strangers) and almost Camus-like existentialism (The Party, Save Me from What I Want). Though perhaps akin lyrically to the best of Nick Cave’s 90s material, the sonic inspiration is claimed to be from Prince. This makes since too, not only because of the buzzing synths of the single “Actor Out of Work” or the robotic groove of “Marrow”, but because Actor displays the type of cohesion of experimentation and pop accessibility that marked the high-point of the purple one’s 80’s career. The production from John Congleton (whose credits range from Marilyn Manson to The Roots) also aids the album by giving it a meticulously layered sound, the type that reveals new elements to the songs with each subsequent listen. This is a sound of an artist breaking out and redefining herself.

Listen To: Actor Out of Work, The Strangers, The Party

RIYL: My Brightest Diamond, Julie Dorian, Camera Obscura