2007 will be the year for Annie Clark, the Texan singer-songwriter behind the one-woman band, St. Vincent to make her mark. Besides being a member of Polyphonic Spree, this talented multi-instrumentalist-composer has made blog headlines for her SXSW performance and for opening for such acclaimed bands as Television, Jose Gonzalez, Jolie Holland, Sufjan Stevens and for upcoming shows with Arcade Fire.
The tour EP begins with the opening track, “Paris Is Burning.” You can hear Annie’s sporadic powerhouse song writing as she sets the Parisian scene and her guitar ablaze with virtuoso playing. The song contains muted horns, finger picked guitars, solid bass grooves, riveting drums, and an army of layered vocals. Annie knows her instruments very well and this indie-darling can be quite intimidating with her inventive avant-garde guitar riffing. I’m a guitar player and if I was in her band I would probably switch my instrument to the triangle. She’s that good!
“What Me Worry” is a groovy jazz piece, which proves her warm voice and delicate arrangements are capable of sounding as pure as any vintage master.
The EP closes with a non-album exclusive Jackson Brown cover of “These Days,” which he originally wrote for Nico who later covered the song, along with Paul Westerberg and even Elliott Smith. Here Clark makes the song her own by delivering the track in a clear folk form.
Annie Clark AKA St. Vincent is an amazing talent with strong song writing, beautifully written compositions and a loud distinctive personality. She has a broodingly theatrical stage presence that even Arcade Fire would be proud of. Go catch one her shows on tour this spring and pick up the three-song tour EP so you can get a taste of what’s to come on her soon-to-be released summer album entitled “Marry Me.” The album is due out in early July on Beggars. |