St. Vincent is No Saint

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 16, 2010 6:20PM

St. Vincent is the moniker of Annie Clark, American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She’s a former member of the Polyphonic Spree and toured with Sufjan Stevens, but lately she’s been playing solo, releasing knockout albums and earning her status as an indie goddess. But don’t let her big doe eyes, porcelain skin and soothing, lovely voice fool you; her music proves that she isn’t as sweet and innocent as she appears.

Her spring 2009 sophomore album, Actor, is a mesmerizing collection of playful yet melancholy songs touching on topics like sex, violence and loneliness, lushly layered with a plethora of instruments, such as flute, organ, synth and distorted guitar. Clark wrote and recorded most of the album in her Paris hotel room using only a set of headphones, GarageBand software and some of her favorite Disney and Woody Allen films for inspiration - Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, among others. For instance, she wrote “Marrow” while watching the Wizard of Oz, and the song clearly parallels the movie’s menacing and enchanting qualities. It opens with pleasant, symphonic synth and hauntingly delicate vocals before startling the listener with dizzying, distorted guitar, hysterical saxophone notes and lyrics that beg in panic, “Help me, help me.”

In advance of her scheduled performance at Pitchfork, St. Vincent will be playing this Thursday at the Metro as part of her current headlining tour. We admit, Clark’s stunning beauty is reason enough to pre-order tickets, but that isn’t to say that she’s just a pretty little lady who knows how to shred. Her talent and devotion to music are gender-blind, and she creates music purely for the love of it. Clark says it best herself in an interview with Spinner when she explains, “I just love playing guitar, so that's what I'm going to do,” and she goes on to argue that people should focus on the music itself rather than the musician’s gender.

St. Vincent plays Thursday, February 18 at the Metro, 3730 N Clark, 8pm, $16 in advance, $18 Day of, 18+