Artist Profile: St. Vincent – Just the Same but Brand New

Fusing elaborate songwriting with her distinctive gritty guitar tone, St. Vincent has developed a striking image and sound which has evolved with every release. With a reputation for her bold theatrical live performances, St. Vincent has garnered major attention from audiences all around the globe. She has received recognition for her work in the form of a Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Music Album category for her self titled fourth studio album.

Along with her output of superb solo records, St. Vincent also collaborated with Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, resulting in the 2012 album ‘Love This Giant’. With a guest slot appearance with Nirvana at the 2014 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, St. Vincent cemented herself as one of the most creative and influential forces in the business today. 

In the lead up to the release of ‘Daddy’s Home’, we take a look back at some of St. Vincent’s key releases to date.

• St. Vincent
• MASSEDUCTION
• Love This Giant
• Actor
• Marry Me
• Strange Mercy

St. Vincent

St. Vincent’s self titled fourth solo album was released in 2014 and the record received rave reviews. ‘St. Vincent’ landed at the top of an impressive number of best albums of 2014 end of year lists. Clark’s trademark choppy guitar licks are mesmerizing and her tone is simply unmatched. Her compositions fluctuate between the explosive and beautifully tender. The epicly frantic side to the record appears in the form of  ‘Rattlesnake’, ‘Birth in Reverse’ and ‘Digital Witness’. The softer makeup of ‘Prince Johnny’, ‘I Prefer Your Love’ and ‘Severed Crossed Fingers’ balance ‘St. Vincent’ out, resulting in a wonderfully ambitious and glitchy record.

MASSEDUCTION

St. Vincent returned three years later with her fifth studio album, MASSEDUCTION. Sexy and slick, the record hit the UK charts at number 6 and peaked in the US Billboard 200 at number 10. The album is packed full of outstanding and relentless synth-pop grooves, married seamlessly with Clark’s fiery guitar work. ‘Los Angeles’, ‘Masseduction’ and ‘Sugarboy’ all feature 80s-esque jittery synth lines and pounding percussion. ‘New York’ and ‘Slow Disco’ are gentler productions, but no less breathtaking. In 2018, St. Vincent released a stripped back reworked version of the album in the form of MassEducation. The record is composed of elegant piano arrangements and Clark’s seductive vocals are pushed front and centre.

St. Vincent’s MASSEDUCTION tour included a date at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in October 2017 and an appearance at Electric Picnic the following year.

Love This Giant

St. Vincent joined forces with David Byrne to create ‘Love This Giant’. The album was released in 2012 and the duo subsequently embarked on a world tour which included a stopoff at Electric Picnic in 2013. Album opener ‘Who’ is a blissful brass focused art-pop track which sets the tone for the record perfectly. With two creative giants of this size joining forces, the result was never going to be anything short of sensational. Scattered rhythms layered to perfection, rich instrumentation and a serious knack for melody from both parties results in ‘Love This Giant’.

Actor

‘Actor’ is St. Vincent’s second offering, released in 2009. The record is confident and boisterous and finds Clark greatly inspired by early Disney and Woody Allen movies. ‘Actor Out Of Work’ was the first single released from the record, a track which features Clark’s fuzzy guitar which builds to a frenzy of pounding percussion. Fleeting wind sections and angelic strings create a harmonious balance throughout the album as joyous and chaotic compositions are blended with softer touches. ‘Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood’ features beautiful arrangements of these string sections which are married perfectly with Clarke’s sweet vocals. 

Marry Me

St. Vincent’s debut album ‘Marry Me’ was released in 2007. The album’s first single ‘Jesus Saves, I Spend’ presents the experimental nature of Clark’s work right from the off. Clarke’s arrangements are fused with a chorus of theatrical backing vocals to create this catchy chamber pop track.

Strange Mercy

‘Strange Mercy’ is St. Vincent’s third studio album and was released in 2011. Clark took an intense approach to writing the album as she isolated herself in a studio in Seattle and wrote for up to 12 hours a day in an attempt to finalise the project. ‘Cruel’, ‘Cheerleader’ and ‘Surgeon’ all appeared as singles from the album. The record includes more electronic elements compared to her first two albums while maintaining her signature guitar sound and gloriously layered instrumentation.