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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just the same, but brand new, May 5, 2009
According to St. Vincent aka Annie Clark, "Actor" is all about losers. Unhappy, lonely people who are struggling to tread water.
Hey, any album that has makes the emoesque line "paint the black hole blacker" work has got to have something special. And Clark's second solo album is a little lot of unhappiness and melancholy wrapped in woobling synth and vintage crackles, eruptions of blurry sound and beautiful vocals. It has a more unified sound than her debut, twisting catchy pop melodies into unpredictable streams of oddball indie music.
"Lover, I don't play to win/For the thrill until I'm spent/Paint the black hole blacker... What do I share?/What do I keep from all the strangers who sleep where I sleep," St Vincent sings wistfully over an angular little accordion-laced melody. About halfway through, it whirls off into echoing space while the synth spirals around her.
It's followed the ethereal, drum-saturated "Save Me From What I Want," fast-paced guitar pop laced with drawling vocals, and whirling fever dreams of slightly warped pop melodies -- they're soaked in woobly organ, cacophonous eruptions of sound, and interludes of dreamlike synth. The album winds down on a mellower note with the last trio of songs: the off-kilter piano pop of the "The Party" (which serves as an awe-inspiring climax), the crystalline fragility of "Just The Same But Brand New," and the wistful horn-saturated drift of "The Sequel."
Not to mention "The Bed," a delicate tangle of piano and twittering flute... until you realize that it's about children who have "gotta teach them all a lesson" ("them" being all-too-human monsters) with their "dear daddy's Smith and Wesson." Seriously: "Stop, right where you stand/We need a chalk outline if you can/Put your hands where we can see them please...")
Speaking just for myself, I like my pop music to either be energetic enough to not merely be catchy, or bizarre enough to stand out in a sea of mediocre, instantly forgettable pop hooks. You know, the garbage that pop tarts regularly put out Fortunately St Vincent is more than quirky enough to fit the bill -- and while her previous album "Marry Me" was a colourful splash of different sounds, "Actor" is a more subtle affair with a more melancholic sound.
Most of the songs are polished, smooth concoctions with lots of classical instrumentation -- piano, twittering flute, sharp drums, horns, and violins that switch between smooth instrumentals and squiggling bow-noises -- as well as weaving in some nimble guitar melodies. But those songs are given odd warps and bends thanks to the synth, which washes itself through every melody -- sweeps, squiggles, fuzzing, and the occasional rich organ.
And then back to the album's theme: losers. Lots of 'em. Okay, it's a little harsh to describe every song as being losercentric, but it isn't focused on happy people.
Most of the songs are imbued with a sense of everyday loneliness -- an unhappy trip home ("All of my old friends aren't so friendly/All of my old haunts are now all haunting me"), nighttime drives, parties that are over and broken loves. St. Vincent has a rich smooth voice, a knack for clever phrases ("my pockets hang out like two surrender flags") and a few angular snatches of poetry ("The unkissed boys and girls of paradise /Are lining up around the block/Back pockets full of dynamite...").
"Actor" is a gorgeously off-kilter pop album that sounds like a visit to a lonely urban street, full of rain and unhappy people. Bravo, St. Vincent.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Worthy Follow-Up to One of the Decade's Best Albums, May 5, 2009
Annie Clark's 2007 debut as St. Vincent is (still), in my opinion, the best debut album from a female solo artist in the last decade. In it, she introduced herself as a charismatic, talented artist with a beautiful voice and an absolute skill for crafting charming pop songs. On Actor, her sophomore release, Clark is content to not retread old grounds entirely while simultaneously expanding on the sound that made her so endearing in the first place. The result is an album that is not near as solid as its predecessor, but portrays Annie Clark as a person who is capable of more than pretty little pop songs.
Actor, first and foremost, is a much heavier, denser album than Marry Me; more Shara Worden than Regina Spektor. Clark's guitar skills are not as apparent on this album, but they have their loud, obtrusive moments. "The Strangers," opens the album on a light, bouncy note as Clark sings "Paint the black hole blacker," over some lovely instrumentation. It's not until the instrumental bridge that we witness the darkness of which she sings - an incredibly distorted electric guitar, bursting through the mix to accelerate the song and, consequently, the album as well. Keep that in mind. It's not the last time it'll pop up on Actor.
The album's biggest flaw is its lack of many catchy hooks. That sounds kind of shallow, but it's something the Marry Me had - that made it so relentlessly listenable - that Actor does not. "Actor Out of Work" and "Marrow" are the most notable exceptions to this comment, the former being the album's first single and most radio-friendly tune. "Marrow," on the other hand, is just an awesome example of Clark's "WTF-ness." One second she's singing softly of some ghoulish synth choirs and the next she's singing "H-E-L-P/Help me!/ Help me!" over a consortium of distorted guitars, drums, and a saxophone (among others, I'm sure). On my first run-through of Actor, it was the first track to stand out and give me a "whoah" moment. It remains my favorite even now and is a must-listen for any fan that would like to hear Annie's take on "acid pop."
What Actor lacks in catchiness, it more than makes up for with dramatic flair. The instrumentation on this album makes Marry Me sound anemic in comparison. It was a very vocally-driven album. Actor undoubtedly proves that Annie Clark is capable of more than just a pretty voice, and she deserves all the credit in the world for arranging this album in its entirety. "Black Rainbow" has a simple eighth-note syncopation that builds and builds until it finally erupts into a 1 1/2 minute evil freakout that will absolutely blow your mind! On "Just the Same but Brand New," her vocals are a side note to the stunning composition that is going on around her. That's made all the more impressive when you consider that the lyrics on the song are one of the album's best!
As far as songs on the album that are "bad," there are none (just like last time), but there are a few that just don't do it for me. "Save Me From What I Want" has a really cool bass and drum line, but the chorus is lacking in everything an effective hook needs. Likewise "The Sequel," while beautifully composed, has forgettable vocals and is too fleeting to not be skipped over, while "The Party" starts out well enough but squanders it on a 2-minute outro that is neither interesting nor necessary. The thing you'll notice about all three of those critiques is that each of them has something positive to say about the song, as well as negative. That's the thing about Actor. For every moment that may feel misguided or flat, there's something that either completely negates it or takes your mind off of it. So even on songs that aren't my favorites, there are still things that I like about it, that keep me coming back. Who knows, maybe a month from now I will have listened to them enough to see them in a different light.
I once read an interview with Annie, describing the process of making Marry Me. She described it as a long process; a collection of songs written, rewritten, tweaked, and polished over the course of several years until it was perfect. It was that "first" album that every great artist makes. The challenge, of course, is following it up with something as deserving of praise and admiration. Actor is that album. Annie Clark has been careful to make a record that doesn't just pick up where she left off. Here, she blazes a new trail; one that is not as strong as its predecessor, but still full of beauty, darkness, and wonder. Actor is an album that will not soon be forgotten or pushed aside. It is something that will leave an impression long after the last note fades out. In that way, I suppose it's much like Marry Me.
Key Tracks:
1. "Actor Out of Work"
2. "Black Rainbow"
3. "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood"
4. "Marrow"
5. "Just the Same but Brand New"
7 out of 10 Stars
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'll Marry "Actor" Too, May 15, 2009
When I heard Marry Me in '07, I was blown away. With one album, Annie Clark/St. Vincent became one of my treasured musical goddesses, along with Tori, Fiona and PJ. So you know where my tastes run, if I had to pick my gods, I'd go with Bowie, Radiohead and Prince. I knew this girl was special. I was heartened too, because my artists are getting older, and I was afraid I'd be stuck in an audial time loop, listening to the same outdated classics like my parents. Thirty here I come!
I looked forward to Actor for months. At first listen, I admit, I was a bit letdown. "The Strangers" was great: epic, cryptic, hypnotic, comparable to "Now, Now" from Marry Me. "Actor out of Work" got lodged in my head before the two and a half minutes were up. None of other songs grabbed my attention. After I played the album a few times, "Save me from What I Want," became my new favorite. The lyrics were deceptively deep and aching, like nothing on Marry Me. Then, I think it was "The Party." It didn't take long before I fell in love, again, with Annie/St. Vincent. As good as Marry Me is, Actor is ultimately more addictive, more compelling and more satisfying.
If I have one complaint about Marry Me, it's that the songs leave me somewhat cold. They're clever, fascinating, lovely. But I don't feel a strong connection with the artist because none of it seems particularly genuine. It's ironic that, on "Actor," I empathize with her despair, by far, the prevalent sentiment. Perhaps, Annie Clark is only comfortable exposing her soul while symbolically affecting an actor's part. For example, the bitterness in "Actor out of Work" is more jarring than in the intentionally harsh "Your Lips are Red" off Marry Me. I love "Paris is Burning," but "Black Rainbow" just hits me like a punch in the gut, when she sings lines such as "Let the children act like furniture/for the ladies of the lawn."
I didn't realize, at first, how dark this album is. It sounds so pretty, the instrumentation, her voice, fragile and angelic. It allures to devastate. Marry Me had the same affect. And, Marry Me is as seductive to the ears, perhaps more so. But once you get into Actor, you can't shake it off. When the lyrics are unabashedly twisted, as in "The Bed," "Stop right where you stand/ We need a chalk outline if you can," I don't smirk. I shudder. This album feels like a true work of art, from a captivating artist.
Actor is highly recommended. It's my favorite album of the year so far. But be warned, Annie Clark/St. Vincent is a sneaky one. If you've listened to her before, you know what I mean. It's not only that her songs grow on you like fungus. Her often deranged lyrics will work their way into your subconscious. All of a sudden, you'll be in the shower singing, "I'm crawling through landmines..." Oh well. Let the desolation overtake me. To quote "The Strangers:" "Paint the black hole blacker."
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