Almost two years after the release of Marry Me, St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, is back with her sophomore album this May: It’s called Actor and she co-produced it with the pAper chAse’s John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Thermals, Smog, Polyphonic Spree, etc). Clark wrote/arranged the 11 songs and sings, plays guitar, bass, and keys, but brought on some additional players like Hideaki Aomori (Sufjan Stevens), Alex Sopp (Björk, Phillip Glass), and increased the rhythm section with Midlake’s McKenzie Smith and Paul Alexander. There’s also French horn, violin, sarongi, bass, and percussion. Still, really, she’s front and center, which is why the cover art makes sense. It also carries on the tradition of Marry Me and confirms something Amrit said to me earlier today: “She loves closeups of her face.” Yes she does. I guess she’s assuming you do, too.
Miranda July.
The songs:
01 “The Strangers”
02 “Save Me From What I Want”
03 “Neighbors”
04 “Actor Out of Work”
05 “Black Rainbow”
06 “Laughing With a Mouth of Blood”
07 “Marrow”
08 “The Bed”
09 “The Party”
10 “Just the Same But Brand New”
11 “The Sequel”
What does “Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood” or a “Black Rainbow” sound like? Clark notes that she “wanted to make [Actor's songs] technicolor animatronic rides.” The first single, “Actor Out Of Work,” is out on 4/20, dude.
Actor is out 5/4 via 4AD. Live:
02/27 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall (Noise Pop Festival)
03/18 Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian Church (4AD SXSW showcase)
03/20 Austin, TX @ Antone’s (Billions Corporation SXSW showcase)
[Red shirt photo by Annabel Mehran]
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It looks like the 40 Year Old Virgin poster.
Don’t get me wrong I think Annie is cute but this is kind of uncreative.
which, ironically, is annie’s biggest fan base.
woooho!
i’m not so sure about this, but when it comes down to it, i’m just not going to give a shit about the album cover if i like the music.
but, truly, the greatest part of this entry is the unassuming “,dude” added after the mention of “4/20″
I thought the dude was funny, as well. For a second, I thought Hulk Hogan was typing this entry.
To be fair, she is stunning.
She has quite the tiny neck. It’s cute.
David Byrne’s Look into the Eyeball, first thing that came to mind.
Fucking love her.
WOOOOO! YES YES YES! Finally! Fan-tastic.
I love St. Vincent and look forward to this record.
Also I don’t mind closeups of her face. She’s damn cute.
She’s quite beautiful. Not in love with the colour scheme, but it’s pleasant enough.
Just as long as Carl Weathers doesn’t scam her.
I personally enjoy the unassuming ‘Miranda July’ right below the picture. I just hope that doesn’t SOUND like the kind of record I assume Miranda July would make. Not that I really even think that would be a bad record…but, well, you know…
No, that would be a bad record. Xylophone solo……that’s it.
I think Miranda July made a really awful album that had little to no music on it earlier this decade (when I was getting her more-miss-than-hit film shorts crammed down my gullet by my film teachers).
Well, if it makes any difference, the soundtrack to Me You and Everyone We Know was excellent…
ok “dudes”…why is it only female musicians who get the comments about their appearance and rarely about the music they make? you must be fucking 17 or a fucking ignorant sex deprived pig because all you do is objectify artists that are unique because of their music, not because they have breasts or vaginas. so sick of this shit. if you truly “love” a musician then you wouldn’t disrespect them by making obtuse comments on their appearance. hey guess what? dan deacon is fat and bald. so is tim from les savy fav. does this affect their music? where are your fucking comments then? grow up children.
I would think it’s obvious why female musicians receive the brunt of aesthetic criticisms on a forum such as this: male readers far outnumber female readers. With that in mind, one can still assume (generously) that only a very small portion of either set would choose to focus their attentions on the physical merits of the person of the hour, but with such a large set (Males), those dolts are going to be noticeable. Conversely, with a smaller female population, there might be the same percentage of Dolts, but that would result, in the end, with brief and unnoticeable comments about how sexy Thom York’s wonky eye is, or about how grand it’d be to have Andrew Bird play you like a violin.
Seriously, Andrew is a stud.
This I wholeheartedly agree with.
Post tits.
I don’t believe that any girl is seriously offended by these comments, especially since we would say the exact same things amongst each other about the likes of Kevin Barnes, Conor Orberst and Andrew Bird… and all jokingly. I mean when someone says they’d “hit that” or whatever, no one takes it seriously. Lighten up!
I won’t speak for anyone else butttt when I say I would “hit” Andrew Bird, I am very very sincere.
I’m a guy and i would let Isaac Brock stick it in me
Denise, lighten up. The cover art is a close-up photo of a woman (a brilliant musician in this case), I think that it’s relevant to mention her attractiveness in the context of the post.
If the cover art for the latest Deathcab album was a similar close-up of Ben Gibbard’s pasty mug, you can be sure that there would be plenty of comments about his pudgy cheeks, greasy skin and acne.
Looking forward to Annie’s new album (because I enjoy her music), and I won’t buy Katy Perry’s album (featuring her on the cover) even though I find her quite fetching.
Yeah, Denise — male musicians are NEVER considered sex symbols. Certainly, no girl ever listened to Jeff Buckley while vaguely imagining that he was singing to her.
Why are you trying to de-sexualize everything? It’s a big part of life. It’s a big part of art. Get over it.
it’s so not about “de-sexualizing”, because sex is a an amazing part of life. it’s about focusing on an artists physical attributes rather than their musical attributes. if annie clark wanted to be a model, then commenting on her physical beauty would be a worthy comment because that is what she would be marketing. but she is not marketing her looks, despite having photos of her on the cover. she is, (and i write only my own interpretation here), showing her complete honest being as an artist by having a photo of herself on the cover. nothing to hide, you know? but yes, i agree with NICK and i certainly appreciate his more leveled approach to my reaction to the comments here. truly, no one can deny the crude, hormonal driven comments when it comes to st. vincent, cat power, jenny lewis, mia, lykke li, etc etc. to deny these amazing musicians their due, and instead highlight the fact that you want to “hit that”, (and by the way, would never have the chance to), is to show your own ignorance, sexism, and general worthlessness as a person with decent musical taste or knowledge. dr. nina simone would kick your ass in any venue any field in a second….
Yawn………
Hey, Lily Tomlin in 9-5, since there’s ONLY a tracklisting and cover photo of her effervescent visage here and NOT MP3s of the actual songs, how the fuck are we supposed to comment on the music? Learn how to read (the fucking title of the post is “St. Vincent’s Actor Album Art” for crying out loud) before getting back on the Internet, Sugartits.
*…name drops an esteemed feminist theorist to give her position extra ‘cred’..*
but seriously, lighten the hell up. An observation made in passing about how she has a ‘cute neck’ or is ‘stunning’ is really nothing to get all internet-riled up over…afterall, it IS a close up photo, I think any comment regarding her appearance is almost inevitable, no? To take it as some representation of sexist undercurrents throughout this and other threads about female musicians not named the pussy cat dolls is a bit much. Really, considering the typical stereotypes and comments that are traditonally slapped onto women, I think what has been said it rather reasonable, and at worst worthy of a “oh, you guys and your sexual jokes!”
but seriously, she should think about showing some cleavage. It would do wonders for her record sales.
I love orange. I should probably buy Marry Me before getting this one though. She has a natural beauty which is intriguing to the eye.
babysit me!
Glad to see we had the same observation about who she looks like!
http://lizzyville.blogs.com/index/2009/02/st-vincent-new-album-actor-out-may-5-preview-at-sxsw.html
So did I, Brother.
she looks like a bitch you’d see at a why? show
I should probably start going to Why? shows, then.
Oh wow. I was one of the first to comment on her appearance here and I’m actually female and I consider myself a feminist. Personally, I thought commenting on her appearance in this instance was justified because the post was about an album cover that features a close up of her face (Is it boring? No, imo, because she looks great in the photo). Whether that close-up is attractive seems relevant to me, seeing as we are discussing the cover, rather than when Stereogum posts a Scarlett Johannson MP3 or some Meg White news and immediately the discussion turns to breasts. I can understand more being offended by that but in this case, since we are essentially discussing a photo of Annie Clark and not her music, I don’t see the problem especially since the comments haven’t been particularly slobbering or loathsome. But maybe that’s just me.
She’s also playing Day Two of Sasquatch! at the Gorge, which I am most excited about!
i cant wait to hear this…
guitar guitar guitar….
Denise, honestly, you truly do sound like a miserable person. Someone said she had a little neck which is cute, another stated that she is stunning, and yet another scumbag mentioned that she is quite beautiful. Next…you come out all guns blazing about “fucking sex deprived pigs” and “breasts and vaginas”! I?m no therapist or anything, but I can only deduce that you are the one who is sex deprived.
As I reread your comments?I can only hope it is a complete joke in order to get everyone all worked up. It seems so lame that it almost has to be contrived. Oh?and I have a penchant for both breasts and vaginas, but not ALL breasts and vaginas. Judging by your disposition alone, I don?t care for yours?and there are probably very few others that do either.
Hey Denise, ear muffs…..I’d so hit.
St. Vincent + part of Midlake = potentially awesome
I’ve seen better.
Annie is beatufull. Shie is so talent she is so intense. here in BRAZIL we love her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man, I can’t believe this is the album cover! She’s SO much prettier than that in real life! this pic kinda creeps me out a bit… it’s not even her sort of look. i dunno. but whatever, as long as the album is awesome i’m good
“Denise” is a fatty.
great album, (Like Cocorosie ?)