St. Vincent: Actor
Actor is not just an album; it’s an indicator of where songwriting will go. The music of Annie Clark’s alter-ego St. Vincent isn’t particularly avant-garde or innovative, but her method of composing certainly is. Actor was written entirely on Garage Band, music software that is bundled with most Apple computers. It’s easy to judge Actor based on the unconventional method of writing, since most music written on a computer has a cold, distant feel. Actor may have been written and arranged electronically, but it sounds as if it was written the traditional way.
Clark has a taste for the dramatic, and nearly every track features an orchestral arrangement. They range from subtle and ambient (“The Strangers”) to more complex and ornate (“Marrow”). “Just the Same But Brand New” has one of the most interesting arrangements. The music was created using a keyboard, but it sounds like an electronic harpsichord. When the drums kick in halfway through, it changes the entire dynamic. Clark was influenced by film scores, and The Actor has a very cinematic feeling throughout. The complex arrangements are never overwhelming, because they are tempered with simple pop melodies. Every track is layered, so something new reveals itself each time.
Clark’s voice is a sweet, delicate thing. Her cadence rarely changes, and she maintains it regardless of the music behind her. The simple beauty of her voice works well against the complex composition of her music. That is the recurring theme of the entire record. Simplicity and complexity are not mutually exclusive, despite what we’ve been taught.
Perhaps the best part of Actor is Clark’s musical versatility. “Actor Out of Work” is a tense electronic rock song, with waves of guitar heightened by synthesizers. The drums crash behind Clark, as she calmly belts out the song. At times you want her to break out of her steady vocal style, to match the rage of the guitars. But Clark is too smart to fall into clichés. In fact, the sweetness of her voice coupled with the guitars make for a surprisingly uneasy listen.
It’s hard to find a highlight on a record that has so many, but my favorite moment is “The Party.” It’s vaguely reminiscent of Radiohead’s “Karma Police,” if “Karma Police” had a cool jazz swing to it. Once again, Clark throws a curveball. Most of the song is low-key, but midway she adds choirs and deeper drums. Not to sound like a broken record, but that is precisely why Actor is so great. You get nice and comfortable and then she changes everything up. Even though everything is changed, it fits within the basic song structure.
The mark of a great record is its repeat factor, and Actor has that in spades. You can listen to it ten times in a row, and something new will crop up each time. It’s the rare record that manages to be deep without being pretentious. Yes there are ornate arrangements, but it never sounds like she’s trying too hard. Annie Clark has written a cycle of mini-film scores, but never forgot to write songs.
