Having donned multi-coloured robes with the Polyphonic Spree, toured as part of Sufjan Steven’s backing band and opened for Arcade Fire on their last American tour, Annie Clark is no stranger to top-quality music. Finally striking out on her own under the monicker ‘St. Vincent’, her recently released debut LP “Marry Me” has garnered critical acclaim with songwriting that combines the quirky charm of Regina Spektor with an ambitious degree of eclecticism. Her live performance shows another side to Miss Clark; although she has a wide range of instruments on record, at the 229 she had nothing but an electric guitar, one of those hi-tech drum panel things and a few effects pedals to support her. As a result, the show tended towards the experimental and to be honest, some of it didn’t quite work- there were more than a few occasions where one felt that, despite her ingenuity, her songs would be better served with backing musicians. But the majority was impressively well done- at one point she appended an unexpected post-rock outro to one of her songs with marvellous effect, her guitar work was inventive and her vocals were unimpeachable (although far too low in the mix at times). Disappointing that there was no room to fit the sublime 'Marry Me' into the short (45 minute) set, but her effortless charm made it easy to forgive the sad oversight. Hopefully she’ll find room for it when she supports the National in November; it’d be nice if she’d also pick up a band on the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment