The story goes that Annie Clark jumped right from touring in support of St. Vincent’s last album — the 2011 masterpiece Strange Mercy — to working with David Byrne on Love This Giant, their horn-centric collaboration. And from there, she went right back to work — a mere 36 hours after the tour ended — and began writing new material.
That bit of information is instructive in demonstrating Clark’s whirlwind work ethic, and a seemingly unending supply of creative drive. But the story also helps decipher Clark’s musical evolution, leaving breadcrumbs in song form that leads us from her dystopian Disney aesthetic to this End of the World dance party of her brand-new fourth album, St. Vincent. The self-titled album effortlessly marries Clark’s unique trademarks — her equally mannered and seething voice and her precise yet snarling guitar playing — with the buoyant, funked-up pop she made with Byrne.