New Music Spotlight: St. Vincent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itt0rALeHE8&feature=kp

 

We still can’t get enough of that track, as it resonates in our minds with its dreamlike melodies, driving beat, and feverish, jagged guitars. But don’t sleep on the rest of her oeuvre so far (get a copy of 2009’s Actor and press play; the opening track, “The Strangers”—later sampled by Kid Cudi—will easily seduce you).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb6T0pMOc0s&feature=kp

 

The former member of The Polyphonic Spree is touring Europe and the U.S. between February 13^th and April 12^th (see dates below, which include a final stop in Toronto on June 20^th), and is dropping a much-anticipated LP on February 25. We’re quite fond of her particular brand of baroque indie pop that oscillates between mellifluence and darkness, so we’re showcasing here the video for “Digital Witness,” a track from her new, self-titled album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVAxUMuhz98&feature=kp

 

Also, check out these origin stories behind two tracks, from Clark’s January interview on NPR’s All Songs Considered with Robin Hilton and Bob Boilen:

On “Rattlesnake” —

[…] I was in far, far West Texas, at a friend of mine’s cattle ranch, a place that’s been in her family for years and years and years. And I was walking around, and I was alone, and I thought that it would elevate the experience to take my clothes off and be one with nature and all these things. Of course, I’m such a city girl that I don’t know anything about nature without Google at my fingertips—but I was feeling inspired. So I took my clothes off, and I was having this commune with nature, when, all of a sudden, I heard something. I stopped and I thought, ‘Okay, maybe that’s the wind. Maybe that’s just a little squirrel scampering through the brush.’ And then I heard it again, and it was very distinct: it was a rattle. And I turned my head just slightly, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a rattlesnake. And I just took off running.”

On “Huey Newton” — “I was traveling so much last year on tour, and I was prescribed Ambien, which is a sleeping drug, just to help get over jet-lag. So I was in a hotel room in Helsinki, and I took a whole Ambien. What happens if you take Ambien and you go to bed is that you sleep like a baby. But if you take it and for some reason can’t fall asleep, you just trip—I mean, you straight-up hallucinate. So I was in this hotel room, and I hallucinated that Huey Newton was there with me. And we really bonded; we kind of had a heart-to-heart.”

Meanwhile, get tickets to see her live at a city near you:

Tour Dates

02-13 Berlin, Germany – Postbahnhof
02-15 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
02-17 Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
02-18 Paris, France – La Cigale
02-20 London, England – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
02-21 Manchester, England – Manchester Cathedral
02-22 Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre
02-26 New York, NY – Terminal 5
02-27 Boston, MA – House of Blues
02-28 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
03-01 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
03-04 Saxapahaw, NC – The Haw River Ballroom
03-05 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
03-07 Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
03-08 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
03-10 Houston, TX – House of Blues
03-14 Dallas, TX – House of Blues
03-18 Phoenix, AZ – Orpheum Theatre
03-19 San Diego, CA – House of Blues
03-21 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
03-22 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
03-24 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
03-25 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Commodore Ballroom
03-26 Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
03-28 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
03-29 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
03-31 Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall
04-01 Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
04-03 Minneapolis, MN – State Theatre
04-04 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
04-05 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
04-06 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre
04-08 Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
04-09 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
04-10 Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
04-11 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
04-12 Buffalo, NY – Ashbury Hall
06-20 Toronto, Ontario – NXNE