Here's a post that doesn't involve jazz but in a way it kind of does because Annie Clark (singer,guitar player,composer for St.Vincent) used to go to Berklee College of Music for three years. She dropped out before finishing her degree but she has stated that she did learn a lot of jazz chord voicings on the guitar, and was exposed to jazz greats like Miles Davis. When it comes to rock music I tend to prefer live performances because I like to see how the musicians interpret the music from the record on stage. I've seen tons of concert footage of St.Vincent on YouTube. I really dig what she does. Her guitar playing, singing, and stage show are really on point and she sounds unique and herself, one of the hardest things any musician can do. This is a great record released in 2014 and won a Grammy for best Alternative Music Album. Let's talk about the songs.
The first song is 'Rattlesnake'. The lyrics begin with 'follow the power lines back from the road'. It has a midi/digital effects kind of vibe, with this electronic music going on over catchy lyrics and a simple robotic drumbeat. The song is so catchy it could be mistaken for a pop song if it wasn't for the avant-garde type sounding arrangement. There's all this electronic stuff going on and to top it off there's this distorted guitar solo that is very melodic. Annie is a great guitar player by the way, even if she does rely on effects (stomp-boxes, guitar pedals) too much.
Next, is 'Birth in Reverse', which sounds more like a classic rock type song, almost a bluesy type thing with funky guitar chords. The guitar is more important here, and she plays a lot of funky stuff but it sounds avant-garde and would fit in a pop context too. The lyrics are 'like a birth in reverse, what I saw through the blinds'. Its a simple tune with verse chorus type pop arrangement but at the end again there's this instrumental break that is totally unique and only sound like St.Vincent. You can tell she listened to a lot of Talking Heads from these instrumental parts.
The next tune is 'Prince Johnny'. This one has a more mellow vibe with keyboard chords sounding like a mellotron, which The Beatles and progressive rock bands like King Crimson used to use. It's a very progressive sounding track. The chorus lyrics are 'so you pray to all, to make you a real boy'. The drums sound programmed on this track. The lyrics seem simple but they have a complexity to them. I don't really understand what she's singing about because this is only the second time I've listened to this album but I really dig the music and the progressive and avant-garde nature of it.
Then, is the song 'Huey Newton'. This one is one of her best songs in my opinion. I've seen her play it tons of times on YouTube concert footage. There's an electronic musical kind of thing going in the background over these organ type guitar chords. This is where you can see her Berklee education showing through. These guitar chord voicings aren't your standard barre chords, they're more complex voicings. In the middle of the tune there's this great synthesizer solo that sounds like something straight out of the English progressive rock scene. I love it! Then she comes in with this sick guitar line that is totally rock and roll over some great lyrics. At this part of the song she sounds like a total rock star, which she totally is. The guitar is heavily distorted and has tons of reverb and effects.
Next up is another tune that I really like of hers that she plays a lot live. It's called 'Digital Witness'. It has some great lyrics that I like. 'Get back, to your seat, Get back, gnashing teeth, Ooh, I want all of your mind'. 'People turn the the TV on, it looks just like a window, Ooh, Ya.' This is probably the most pop sounding song on the album thus far. It even has some digital effects doing a horn section part over the verses. The chorus is just so catchy. The whole song is catchy. If someone never heard St.Vincent I would probably play them this song because its simple and shows off her typical sound and songwriting without filler.
The next number is 'I Prefer Your Love'. This one sounds like a ballad, a song about love. The lyrics are 'I, I prefer your love, to Jesus'. The drums are a simple robotic drum beat over and over again over these lush orchestral keyboard/synthesizer chords that sound beautiful. As much as she is a guitar player, she sure does love her keyboards and synthesizers.
Next, is a more rock type tune called 'Regret'. Here Annie relies on the guitar to play this kind of almost punk riff. But during the chorus the keyboards shine in. Then there's this distorted guitar interlude, almost like a solo but not quite. The chord progressions she uses are quite unique in the middle of the song. It sounds like a jazz progression. There's so much going on in this song that its hard to describe it all with words.
This next one is another one she plays all the time live. It's called 'Bring Me Your Loves'. The lyrics are 'Bring me your loves, All your loves, your loves, I wanna love them too, you know. I thought you were like a dog, I thought you were like a dog, But you made a pet of me.' The song is totally robotic sounding in an avant-garde way. Her voice really sounds great here. I don't really know anyone who sounds or sings like her. She has a unique way of doing vocals. The keyboards here play some great chord progressions over the simple lyrics with the verse chorus verse chorus arrangement going on.
Then, we have a song called 'Pychopath'. This sounds like a more rock song but instead of a guitar riff it has keyboard jabs playing a simple riff that sounds totally rock. The music is very pop here until the guitar solo comes in. It's a nice distorted guitar solo that sounds like Jimmy Page from Led Zepplin. She's such a guitar hero! Her guitar solos are very short but are very catchy and melodic despite playing with heavily distorted guitar. By this point you begin to realize the kinds of arrangements Annie Clark does, and her personal style of music.
This far at the end of the album we have a tune entitled 'Every Tear Dissapears'. This one has an experimental vibe to it. After a few verses of a robotic electronic sounds and vocals there's this electronic kind of interlude that sounds really spacey, like out of this world. She relies so much on the keyboards but she makes such good use of them with those long open orchestral sounding progressions. If that wasn't enough she also has these guitar breaks and riffs, adding more depth to the song and doing things that couldn't be done with the keyboards alone.
Finally, the last song is 'Severed Cross Fingers', which sounds like a country song. It has what sounds like an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar through an acoustic setting on an amp. This song sounds like a total hipster indie thing. It reminds me of being at a barn but the backing vocals remind me of hipsters smoking cigarettes on the sidewalk. In the middle of the tune there's this total 70's soul inspired chord progression that sounds totally bizarre, in a good way. If that wasn't enough, there's a melodic synthesizer part ending the tune.
Lastly, this is the second time I've heard the album and its a good one in my collection. Usually I'm more of a jazz guy but this is great music as well. Annie Clark isn't really pop or rock. She's more like avant-garde chamber jazz, if that were a thing. She really has some great inspired musical arrangements in her songs. I would say that the complexity she has, she learned from Berklee but she could've just got it from her influences, which are all kind of different stuff. Bands like Talking Heads and Miles Davis, shit like that. I bought this album not too long ago at my local record shop. I listened to it once but didn't think much of it because it's such a short album, plus at the time I was listening to it while doing other things, not really paying attention to the music or lyrics. The album has gotten great reviews from a lot of major publications like Allmusic, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. This second time around listening to it, I realized how much of a great songwriter Annie Clark is. She's a bit of an improviser, rocker, composer, and singer. She does it all. I would say St. Vincent is one of my favorite rock bands, for good reason. She has the chops, the voice, and the songwriting ability of a great musician. She'll go far with her music although I don't think she will ever be super famous like say Taylor Swift or Beyonce. But for hipsters, alternative music fans, and people who like jazz and improvisational music like myself, her music is just perfect.
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