Music Review: St. Vincent's art
St. Vincent is on fire.
On her seventh full-length studio album, Annie Clark, who performs as St. Vincent, unleashes her broad range of art-rock gifts, from the crackling ember of her textured vocals to the raging infernos of swirling, epic orchestration.
St. Vincent canonized her name in the 2010s with twitchy, dense compositions. On the 2021 release, “Daddy’s Home,” her last album, she embraced a looser, 1970s-infused sleaze funk. “All Born Screaming” continues a trend toward more accessible territory, seamlessly spinning elements of acid-jazz, industrial grind, retro-futurism and heavy distortion into apocalyptic walls of sound.
The St. Vincent persona is a restless shape shifter, and the album art of this iteration — tailored shirt, pencil skirt, the artist alone and in flames — is an apt representation. “All Born Screaming” is Clark’s first self-produced release, and she is the primary songwriter and musician throughout, playing multiple instruments on every track. The album includes excellent and meticulously placed contributions from musicians including Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Rachel Eckroth, Cian Riordan, David Ralicke, Cate Le Bon, and Dave Grohl. But this is Annie Clark’s show, and, as in the cover image, she is buttoned up and executing a delicate dance between complete control and self-immolation.