aaamusic | On 02, Jun 2011

St. Vincent, the nom-de-stage of Annie Clark, has confirmed the release of new album, Strange Mercy, on September 12th, 2011. Having worked together on 2009’s Actor, Clark reunited with producer John Congleton and recorded the album in her hometown of Dallas, TX at Elmwood Studios. The eleven new tracks showcase Clark’s gift for fusing the cerebral and the visceral, her melodically elegant arrangements packing hefty emotional punches.

Clark’s virtuosity has long been recognised, and Strange Mercy finds St. Vincent redefining the idea of the guitar hero, utilising the instrument as a pointillist artist might wield a brush. Countless judiciously placed riffs and instrumental flares, each distinct and unique, cohere into grand tableaus. On ‘Cruel’, she elicits punchy bursts like an R&B horn section. ‘Cheerleader’ froths and boils, with deep and fuzzy guitars bubbling up to the surface, while ‘Surgeon’ twirls about endlessly, Clark’s vocals dancing amid a blizzard of notes.

Strange Mercy isn’t an entirely solitary affair either, with Clark joined by a host of other musicians. Included among them are Grammy Award winning Bobby Sparks on mini Moog, clavinet, Arp and Wurlitzer, Midlake’s MacKenzie Smith on drums and Daniel Hart on violin. Also contributing were Beck keyboardist and musical director Brian LeBarton, Evan Smith on woodwinds and Phil Palazzolo.

Since the release of Actor, Clark has collaborated with some of the biggest names in indie music. She recorded with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon for the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, had her song ‘The Strangers’ sampled by Kid Cudi (who she later performed with on Jimmy Fallon’s TV show), and has been working with David Byrne on a forthcoming project. More recently she appeared before a sold-out New York crowd at Michael Azerrad’s “Our Concert Could Be Your Life” with a scintillating performance of Big Black’s ‘Kerosene’:

St. Vincent will be appearing at London’s Barbican Hall on July 13th for ‘Rain Dogs Revisited’, a unique evening celebrating Tom Waits’ classic 1985 album.