Artist: St. Vincent
Title: Actor
Label: 4AD
Genre: Indie
Bitrate: 183kbit av.
Time: 00:39:05
Size: 54.07 mb
Rip Date: 2009-04-04
Str Date: 2009-05-04
1. The Strangers 4:04
2. Save Me From What I Want 3:35
3. The Neighbors 3:30
4. Actor Out Of Work 2:15
5. Black Rainbow 4:11
6. Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood 3:01
7. Marrow 3:24
8. The Bed 3:43
9. The Party 4:05
10. Just The Same But Brand New 5:24
11. The Sequel 1:53
Release Notes:
Two years ago, Annie Clark's recorded debut as St. Vincent,
Marry Me, gave immediate notice that a dizzying new talent had
emerged from the flatlands of Texas. Critics from all points
of the cultural compass 'from Pitchfork to Spin to the New
York
Times Magazine' were entranced by the album's precocious
arrangements and elegant lyrics, and the steadily growing
crowds at St. Vincent's live shows were astonished by Clark's
gargantuan musical chops and her magnetic stage presence. No
small number of St. Vincent fans took the title of Marry Me
literally, had their hearts duly broken, and wouldn't have had
it any other way. The record was heralded as a remarkably
successful entrance and Clark capped a year of international
touring by winning the Plug Awards' Female Artist of the Year.
Actor, St. Vincent's beguiling, sophisticated new record,
takes that debut's ambition as its starting point and never
looks back. The arrangements are more masterful, the
songwriting grander, the performances ever more confident and
inspired. Clark developed an idiosyncratic writing process for
'Actor', immersing herself in some of her favorite
films∙Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, The Wizard of Oz, Stardust
Memories, Sleeping Beauty∙and beginning each song as a secret
film score, then slowly giving it independence as its
structure and lyrics came fully into focus. The resulting
eleven tracks are as cinematic as pop songs can be, but the
movie is a private one, revealing its storyline in hushed,
cunning couplets and cascades of scathing guitar.
Here is a record to listen to with your eyes closed. Melodies
are transposed and inverted. The fantasy of Disney is
juxtaposed with the sweep of Morricone, David Mamet's
unsettling dramatic form and the alienation of Philip Roth.
Igor Stravinsky scores Roger Corman's horror flicks.
'The Strangers' starts off as a deceptively dulcet elegy for a
lost love, then suddenly capsizes under a flood of distortion.
'Actor Out Of Work' is a devastating sonic kiss-off, complete
with slyly poisonous lyrics and steamrolling guitars. The
strings and woodwinds at the opening of 'Marrow' might be
escorting Dorothy to the Emerald City, or straight into the
flying monkeys' clutches. The crackerjack band, including
supporting turns by McKenzie Smith and Paul Alexander of
Midlake, has the crunch of a tank and the grace of a chamber
ensemble.
If Marry Me served as the world's introduction to Annie Clark,
Actor may prove to be her coronation. As the terrifyingly
beautiful movie inside Clark's head flickers across the
screen, we can all feel privileged to be in the seats.