St. Vincent - Actor (May 4)

[Rob]

Almost two years after the release of Marry Me, St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, is back with her sophomore album this May: It's called Actor and she co-produced it with the pAper chAse's John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Thermals, Smog, Polyphonic Spree, etc). Clark wrote/arranged the 11 songs and sings, plays guitar, bass, and keys, but brought on some additional players like Hideaki Aomori (Sufjan Stevens), Alex Sopp (Björk, Phillip Glass), and increased the rhythm section with Midlake's McKenzie Smith and Paul Alexander. There's also French horn, violin, sarongi, bass, and percussion. Still, really, she's front and center, which is why the cover art makes sense. It also carries on the tradition of Marry Me and confirms something Amrit said to me earlier today: "She loves closeups of her face." Yes she does. I guess she's assuming you do, too.

01 "The Strangers"
02 "Save Me From What I Want"
03 "Neighbors"
04 "Actor Out of Work"
05 "Black Rainbow"
06 "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood"
07 "Marrow"
08 "The Bed"
09 "The Party"
10 "Just the Same But Brand New"
11 "The Sequel"

[clewis]

Live video of "The Strangers"

You Tube

"Marrow"

You Tube

[Rob]

After the success of her meticulous (and ever-so-slightly deranged) solo debut, Marry Me, one-time Sufjan Stevens and Polyphonic Spree collaborator Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) came a lot closer to never having to see the names Sufjan Stevens or the Polyphonic Spree in her press clippings ever again. Her stellar live show-- which bounces from Clark's wickedly outre distorted guitar solos to flourishing chamber pop mini-suites-- further cemented her rep as a disturbingly gifted new talent.

Based on an advanced listen, new album Actor (out May 5 on 4AD) keeps the Kate Bush-meets-Bowie dreams alive. Co-produced by Clark and John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Polyphonic Spree), the record is even more embellished than her debut, with Scary Monsters-style freak out bits mixed in with plenty of flute-laden filigree. We called her up last week to chat about the role classic Disney cartoons played on Actor, as well as the frightening ubiquity of Aerosmith...

Pitchfork: I thought your first album, Marry Me, was actorly in that it sometimes sounded like you were playing different characters from song to song. With Actor, did you want to bring that idea to the forefront?

St. Vincent: Lyrically, the new album actually isn't as dressed-up in metaphor-- it's not as guardedly clever [laughs]. As far as the title goes, I would just watch films on silent and think, "How can I score this scene?" as a writing exercise. So I envisioned the whole thing to be like a film score. Then I realized, "Oh wait, I write pop songs. I need words as well." I was thinking about David Mamet a lot-- I have such a crush on David Mamet-- and about the whole idea of what a drama is.

Pitchfork: Was it hard for you to balance characterizations inspired by films and singing from your own experience?

SV: No, it comes about fairly naturally-- there's no schizophrenic double identity thing happening here.

Pitchfork: Which films did you watch when you were thinking about the album?

SV: I was really inspired by Pierrot le Fou, Badlands, and Picnic at Hanging Rock. But I was watching a lot of Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, too-- they're kind of magical. [laughs] I might have cried at Lady and the Tramp. It was a low moment. I felt a little frou frou walking through the city listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, like, [sings] "I walked with you once upon a dream," that one. You do feel a bit crazy dodging dog mess on the sidewalk while listening to Disney music.

Pitchfork: So that's your subway jam.

SV: Yeah!

Pitchfork: I'm always curious to know what people are listening to on the subway.

SV: It's probably Aerosmith.

Pitchfork: It’s funny you say that because I recently glanced at someone's iPod on the subway and they were totally listening to Aerosmith's "Amazing" off their 90s comeback album.

SV: Oh my God! There are all those videos in the mid-90s where Steven Tyler was weirdly sexualizing his daughter.

Pitchfork: Yeah, and that's how Alicia Silverstone became a star, too, in the "Cryin'" video.

SV: She bungee-jumped off the overpass, right?

Pitchfork: Yeah, I think the bungee cord was attached to her belly ring.

SV: No! Was it really attached to her belly ring? I can't even deal with the thought of that. Wow. People were really into bungee-jumping then, too. It's what they call synergy.

Pitchfork: I'm often struck by how a lot of your songs have these really ornate and detailed arrangements...but then the lyrics will be kind of evil. Like, on Actor, you're singing about blood coming out of mouths with these really pretty strings going on in the background...

SV: I like that juxtaposition, but it's definitely not blood and guts all the time. I don't like seeing violent films or anything that would creep me out. Like, I want to see The Wrestler but I don't know if I can take it. I have weirdly violent dreams, though. It's a strange thing-- I'm not psyched on violence at all, it's just kind of there.

Pitchfork: Do you remember any particularly intense recent dreams?

SV: I had a dream about vampires last night. I think Robert Pattinson from Twilight was there, though I haven't actually seen that movie. I don’t even know anything about it. [laughs] Maybe I'd Netflix it or watch it on a plane, but...

Pitchfork: So Twilight is pretty much your favorite movie ever.

SV: That's actually what most of this record is about.

Pitchfork: I'm glad we're getting that out there. There's a fair amount of Robert Fripp-style guitar work on the album, which you don't really hear nowadays. Or maybe I'm just not listening to enough prog...

SV: I'm not sure if it's in vogue to be super into Robert Fripp right now, but I totally love him. [Co-producer] John Congleton has this great word for super gnarly guitars: "abortiony." He's probably gonna see this interview, and I just want him to know that he's a peach. Can that be the headline?

Pitchfork: Um, I'll run it by my editor. You have a few great covers in your repertoire like "Dig a Pony" and "These Days". Now that you have two albums of your own material are you still planning to do covers at shows?

SV: My whole show is going to be covers. I'm going to perform all of Steely Dan’s Aja vocally. I'm gonna just scat-sing the Steve Gadd drum solos. Not really. I'm working on covers, though. It's weird because people come up to me after a show and go, "What was that last song-- it was my favorite!" And it's "These Days".

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/149492

i love her

[clewis]

http://www.ilovestvincent.com/news/1...ctor-out-may-5

[SkortBrun]

Originally Posted by clewis

http://www.ilovestvincent.com/news/1...ctor-out-may-5

That song sounds fantastic!

[blueone]

She looked attractive on the debut albumn cover, but on this one she looks utterly creepy.

[SkortBrun]

Really? I love the new album cover.

[blueone]

Really. She looks like an anime character.

[clewis]

Originally Posted by blueone

Really. She looks like an anime character.

Therefore, cute.

[SkortBrun]

I've got "The Strangers" on repeat and have listened to it close to 20 times since downloading it a few hours ago. I think it's safe to say I'm addicted.

[Amanda]

Oh! I will get this album for sure!

Paris is Burning is one of the awesomest songs EVER!

[clewis]

http://stereogum.com/archives/premat...3151.html#more

[Tim Simmons]

Yeah, its a great album.

[clewis]

Video!
http://stereogum.com/archives/video/...-1_063612.html

[littleamen]

Streaming in its entirety here

[foggy]

I don't like it nearly as much as Marry Me. I might need to listen more, but it hasn't grabbed me yet.

[littleamen]

I really don't have an opinion. I'm not really that in to her. But, I saw that link and remembered that a lot of folks here are.

[foggy]

Originally Posted by littleamen

I really don't have an opinion. I'm not really that in to her. But, I saw that link and remembered that a lot of folks here are.

Ah, I actually didn't even see the links, heh. I just saw the thread and responded without reading it in its entirety. So I should add, thanks to everyone that posted links.

[SkortBrun]

I'm not letting myself listen to this until my copy arrives. I've got "The Strangers" and "Actor Out of Work" on my iPod (love both of them), but I'm not listening to anything else until it shows up.

[Tim Simmons]

Your loss. Its pretty good.

[clewis]

"Save Me From What I Want" and "Laughing with a Mouth Full of Blood" are definitely the favorites right now.

[ferris wheel junkie]

it's not out here until the 8th
and my cds are in a mess and marry me isn't in it's case and i don't have it on my computer

[Rob]

Actor Out of Work official video:

You Tube

[hildegoat]

NY Times link for you: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/ar...c/07vince.html