Since recording her debut album as St. Vincent in 2007, Annie Clark has grow to be some of the leading edge and engaging artists in trendy song.
Recognized for crafting songs that morph and shapeshift at each and every flip, her collision of glittering pop with forceful distortion-ridden guitar paintings has noticed Clark many times defy expectation. A multi-instrumentalist who lower her tooth as a part of Sufjan Stevens’ backing band, her seven solo albums have documented a bright evolution, embodying a chameleonic character that has allowed her to retain an excellent detachment from rock stardom.
Darting from artwork pop to baroque pop and digital to lounge-pop, St. Vincent has additionally emerged as one of the crucial international’s maximum leading edge and engaging guitarists, conjuring up sounds each heavenly and completely otherworldly, her singular methodology close to inconceivable to duplicate.
Following the discharge of St. Vincent’s distinctly hopeful 7th album All Born Screaming, we glance again over Annie Clark’s metamorphic discography to rank her albums from worst to best possible.
7. Daddy’s House (2021)
Following Clark’s father’s unlock from jail on the finish of 2019, St. Vincent’s sepia-toned 6th studio album is a extraordinary slab of unfashionable pop steeped in ’70s New York swagger. Produced via Jack Antonoff, it’s a thorough reinvention that sees Clark step into the arena of Warhol-era pop artwork and early disco, however its penchant for nostalgia contributes to an extraordinary misstep for an artist whose magic lies in her innovation.
Opener Pay Your Manner In Ache feels just a little too acquainted, while revenge fable ode Down borrows closely from the psychedelics of the 70s soft-rock scene. That’s to not say that Daddy’s House is a whole sadness, with The Melting Of The Solar, a tribute to ladies within the song trade, serving up a late-career spotlight within the type of however St. Vincent is without a doubt at her best possible when blazing a fiery path.
6. Marry Me (2007)
Named after a operating gag from Arrested Building, Annie Clark’s debut album offered the arena to the extraordinary alien of St. Vincent by means of a choice of symphonic pop singalongs. Packed tightly with philosophical musings on existence, love, concern, and revolution, from its daring opening observation of intent, Now, Now, throughout the confronting chaos of Your Lips Are Pink and Human Racing’s endearing darkish humour, Marry Me provides handiest glimpses of the artwork rock imaginative and prescient St. Vincent would come to set in movement, nevertheless it’s an exciting preview of the boundary-pushing artistry that may quickly bloom.
5. Actor (2009)
While Marry Me felt distinctly in step with the scene and contemporaries that birthed it, on her 2nd album Annie Clark stepped expectantly into her personal lane. Layering up a baroque pop sound with fuzzy guitars and looped orchestrations, Actor is a delightfully quirky – and oftentimes jarring – forward-step for the Texan multi-instrumentalist. Outlined via its depraved juxtaposition, nagging ambiguities, and surprising manufacturing, courtesy of Grammy Award-winning manufacturer John Congleton, right here Clark reveals her stride. With silky vocals gliding over synth-powered chaos and cinematic strings, even in its maximum simplistic moments, Actor is an enthralling welcome to the genius of St. Vincent.
4. Odd Mercy (2011)
If her 2nd album used to be the person who outlined Clark’s fierce inventive imaginative and prescient, its follow-up Odd Mercy used to be the instant the place her off-kilter feelings in reality took grasp. Slowing the tempo for a choice of indie bops soaking wet in uncooked humanity, from the pointy intakes of breath on opener Chloe In The Afternoon to the visceral voice cracks at the album’s name observe, album 3 reveals St. Vincent extra alive than ever.
Untangling the messiness of existence, Odd Mercy sees the musician lean into her position as a guitar goddess, the six-string filling areas that keys, strings, and layered vocals as soon as occupied. Punishing, pulverising, and every now and then totally unhinged, it marks a reinvention of iconic proportions, dripping in distortion and overflowing with self assurance.
3. St. Vincent (2014)
Embracing her digital influences, St Vincent’s self-titled effort sees Clark refine her eclectic sound with a definite punk edge. Merging the cinematic baroque pop of Actor with the tenderness and six-string seduction of Odd Mercy, her fourth assortment serves as a defining observation. Cementing her place as some of the distinctive artists of her era, from the frantic frenzy of Delivery In Opposite throughout the gorgeously funky guitar licks of Prince Johnny, Clark’s power for experimentation shines vibrant all the way through. Critiquing the realities of contemporary existence, from the self-indulgence of social media posting to the existential crises such obsessions can spur on, St. Vincent moves the steadiness between playfulness and politics completely.
2. All Born Screaming (2024)
Everyone knows that twenty first century existence generally is a hellscape, and few albums seize that higher than Annie Clark’s 7th solo album. Her first self-produced file, All Born Screaming paperwork the consistent attempt to seek out attractiveness and that means inside of a existence counting down against an inevitable finish. As existential because it is very important, from So Many Planet’s reggae-infused apocalyptic soundscapes to the hopeful promise of one thing extra on Sweetest Fruit – a tribute to past due digital artist Sophie – St. Vincent’s newest effort each confronts and consoles. A welcome sprint of realist hope amidst a discography ruled via doom, between thundering riffs (Flea, Damaged Guy) and dream-pop ballads (The Energy’s Out), it’s each a reminder that existence is fleeting, and an encouragement to take advantage of it.
1. Masseduction (2017)
Devastatingly unhappy but undeniably horny, Masseduction items probably the most infectious and grandiose aspect to St. Vincent. Striking up the guitar that served her neatly on her defining self-titled album, on her 5th full-length Clark’s obsession with whole reinvention introduced her to a futuristic electro-pop masterpiece, weighted down with drum machines and synths. Amongst 13 compelling, funny, and heart-shattering tracks performing as a statement on artificiality, anguished lead unmarried Los Ageless is a masterclass in nice pop songwriting, while the tragic, stripped-back Glad Birthday, Johnny boasts Clark’s iconic storytelling taste. An intimate perception into an artist who by no means got down to occupy the fame sphere, it’s the type of manic, direct file just a true genius may just pull off, and Annie Clark is simply that.
