The Dallas-bred singer-songwriter Annie Clark — better known by her musical moniker St. Vincent — might be one of the most underappreciated artists in modern music.
In plain sight, for the better part of the last two decades, the now 41-year-old musician has sloughed off personas from record to record, retaining her core skills (foremost among them, a preternatural command of mood coupled with ferocious guitar abilities) while fearlessly following her muse wherever it leads. Such nimble navigation of a landscape which doesn’t often favor the bold is astonishing.
As Clark recently told the New York Times, for her seventh album, All Born Screaming, which drops Friday, she was intent on leaving a mark — on herself, as much as the listener: “That’s what I want from music right now, personally. I would like a pummeling. I want something to feel dangerous.”
Consider the punches thrown and landed. The transfixing, frequently harrowing Screaming — 10 vivid tracks, featuring some of Clark’s most visceral work to date — is laced with self-loathing and sounds that often feel hauled up from some unsettling subterranean place.
The ever-chameleonic St. Vincent dabbled in darkness on Screaming’s predecessor, 2021’s Daddy’s Home, but masked much of the ugliness in a discofied sheen. Here, she deploys the rope-a-dope strategy, immersing you in gloom before bringing you into the light. Screaming more than lives up to its title. Cathartic, compelling and propulsive, it’s a fully felt masterwork.
Going it (mostly) alone
Although St. Vincent has always found Clark adding and subtracting collaborators, particularly on the production side of things, All Born Screaming marks the first time in her career Clark has served as her own producer (Cian Riordan and Justin Meldal-Johnsen are credited as engineers, while Riordan is credited with mixing). If Screaming is any indication, Clark may never need outside production help again — her instincts are unerring, adding yet another tool to her already-formidable arsenal.
A-list guests, but focus remains on St. Vincent
All Born Screaming isn’t short on star power. Dave Grohl contributes drums to a pair of tracks (“Broken Man” and “Flea”), as does fellow timekeeper Josh Freese (who anchors album opener “Hell is Near” and “So Many Planets”). Cate Le Bon is also a significant participant, playing bass on the album’s most gorgeous track, “The Power’s Out,” and contributing co-production on “Sweetest Fruit” and the nearly seven-minute, album-closing title track. Despite the bold-face names, St. Vincent remains the star of the show.
Thin line between love and loathing
Clark has said in pre-release interviews that Screaming is, in effect, a journey from dark to light, and the record does indeed subtly shift from grim to glowing over the course of its run time. (The exquisite one-two punch of “Sweetest Fruit” and “So Many Planets” might be the most purely pleasurable moments in St. Vincent’s entire catalog.) Early on, however, Clark indulges in some vivid couplets that are breathtaking in blending love and loathing: “And I’ve been mourning you since the day I met you/Stranger come in my path I’ll eat you up tear you limb from limb or I’ll fall in love,” she intones on “Reckless.”
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
