(A St. Vincent classic)
This album starts off with “Hang On Me”, a very patient intro from St. Vincent. But if I know her, this won't last for too many tracks, so it’s really nice to hear her in this pretty environment. I love some of her lyrics here. They’re still certainly cryptic and pretty far out, but I love how beautiful they’re presented and just how strangely hopeful she sounds amongst all of this. Now, the instrumentals on “Hang On Me” continue to be very experimental no matter how quiet and subtle this is. But for a St. Vincent ballad, this is actually very pleasant to listen to. Now, “Pills” is a really interesting tune. It’s the sort of tune shoving Pop-Culture down its throat using its own Pop melodies that I would expect to hear from St. Vincent. It goes over for Annie really well though. It’s certainly very snappy and hypnotic, but it’s also got almost a “Tongue-In-Cheek” humor to it. Instrumentally, this is the sort of wild track that I’ve been dying to hear from Annie for a while now. Not to mention, Kamasi Washing of all people backing her up on Sax really shines as a great addition, and Annie’s very noisy guitar playing is always welcome. “Pills” is a truly bizarre track, and one of the many here that are completely obsessed with Sex, but man is it a blast. I’m not nearly as into the more spoken work finale, but I really can’t take anything away from this overall. Now, for a lot of this album, Annie is getting very creative with Synths, and that really starts on the albums title track “Masseduction”. I love just how determined and confident she continues to sound. Now, I actually really love this track. I certainly love the sort of vintage Funk feel to it all, and Annie is really letting loose with her vocals. The very off-kilter humor and very visual and memorable one-liners remain constant, and this album’s obsession with Sex continues to be a focal point. However, Annie really makes it work in her own very artsy way. So overall, yea, I really dig “Masseduction”, I just wish it was a little more unhinged. Annies headfirst dive into Synth Pop continues with “Sugarboy”, but it’s nothing too far from what she’s worked with in the past. However, I would say the synth elements have never been this blaring and in your face. Like, this is actually a really intense synth beat, and it’s just something I really wasn’t expecting to hear at all. I still feel like Annie is working with a series of her cachet and most accessible songs of all time, which may not please everyone, but it certainly does make it easier to digest. Now, this very sporadic and intense instrumental isn’t exactly my favorite. But I continue to really love Annie’s very commanding performance that just keeps getting bigger and more confident. The synth beat just keeps getting bigger and bigger with “Los Ageless”, but so do Annie’s very smooth performances. But of course, this album’s absolute obsession with Sex, Image, Lust blares on as well. But Annie is such a mastermind that she packages it up in a very classy way. There’s almost a very retro vibe to “Los Ageless”, almost as if this was some sort of X-Rated, B-List Pop single from the 80’s. Outside of that though, I seriously love some of Annie’s more soulful and bluesy vocals in the second half of this one that just sound so passionate. Now, once again, I feel like this one really didn’t need to be as long, and that last minute or so of a monologue just gets weird. But still, this track works for me, and so far this has been a VERY enjoyable album.
Now, with “Happy Birthday, Johnny” this album begins to falter for me a little bit. I totally get what people did about St. Vincent’s ballads and all, Annie certainly has a very endearing vibe here. And this track is seriously beautiful. I love her vocals that are just so smokey and the very serene atmosphere. But I just really can’t get into this one. It’s a sweet tale that’s pleasant to listen to, but that’s about all I can say sadly. I feel like if this one had a bigger and more epic instrumental and was located later in the trackless this track would have been so much more interesting. “Savior” however quickly gets things back to the Erotic level that it was at a few tracks ago. But the very bluesy, swanky sound that comes along with the instrumental on this one actually makes it come off even more effective. It’s actually one of the truly sexiest performances here, and it makes me wonder where this all coming from with Annie. But I digress, the pacing on this one is what really makes it hit home. The verses creep along making you think they’re building up to some gigantic chorus, which ends up creeping along just as slow. What a damn tease. But this album remains a very easily digestible listen from St. Vincent. Sadly, “New York” still puts me to sleep. Once again, I do really appreciate Annie’s very bluesy performance and endearing lyrics. But between this and her early ballad, I feel like this is grossly out of place on this highly sensual album. It’s sweet in parts. But once again, I just expect so much more. Give me some more lavish instrumentals or some buildup or something. I do understand why people are really catching on to this one, however. But a ballad about New York isn’t cutting it in between a series of songs about what turns Annie Clark on. On the other hand, “Fear The Future” is much more in line with what I want to hear from St. Vincent. I personally love her guitar playing and her noisy approach to it, and it’s on display wonderfully here. Overall this track is so much more abrasive, and it’s actually shockingly experimental. There are just so many harsh instrumentals, and Annie’s very haunting performance really hits home. It’s a very determined, passion performance overall. My only real critique is that I sort of wish it was longer. “Young Lover” is up next, and even when this album is at it’s weirdest and most bizarre, Annie has this really bizarre way of making everything sexualized. This is a really weird track, easily one of the most far-out ones yet. It’s filled with this very off-kilter beat and random blasts of harsh noise. Also, I don’t know what it is about these late tracks, but Annie certainly sounds much more chilling and haunting hitting all of these high notes. But this track is another really solid tune as far as I’m concerned. I love just how wild and unhinged Annie continues to sound, she’s almost as wild as these instrumentals.
“Dancing With A Ghost” begins to usher in this album’s final tracks, and it’s a pleasant pretty interlude. But let’s be real, it doesn’t add anything life-changing, and this could have been 45 seconds tagged onto another track. Then we have “Slow Disco” which is another ballad. And I really don’t know why, but once again, I’m seriously not feeling this track at all. Annie sounds great, and the instrumental is much more interesting compared to the early tunes. But this one just isn’t clicking with me, and really doesn’t come off as a St. Vincent track to me. Annie also ends this album off with a ballad with “Smoking Section”. But to be honest, this is by FAR the most interesting one here. I love the imagery on this one, and how exhausted Annie sounds in her performance. It’s a truly haunting and seriously dark track. The synths are easily at their most heavy, and the pacing on “Smoking Section” is done so well, rounding up this album nicely.
Rating: 7.8/10
Give A Listen To: “Hang On Me”, “Masseduction”, “Savior”, “Fear The Future”
Genre : Art Pop / Synth Pop / Indie Pop / Noise Rock / Experimental
Overall Thoughts: This may just be Annie Clark’s most accessible album under the St. Vincent name. Take that as you will, but it’s a pleasant switch up for St. Vincent. Now, I’ll be honest, I did expect this album to be actually better than it turned out being. Some of the ballad’s were a little limp for me, and I would have loved to have hear Annie freak out more and bring in some noisier tunes. But outside of that, this Sex-Filled, Synth Pop album is a really solid listen still.
No comments:
Post a Comment