Deploying singles with the thoughtfulness and tactical skill of a field general, Annie Clark has spent the time leading up to the release of St. Vincent to give listeners one last tour through the sounds she’s spent the last half-decade exploring. “Birth in Reverse”, a bundle of nerves and sparky, Spoon-y riffs, found Clark at her sharpest and most fierce, while “Digital Witness” couched future-shocked fear in a muscular, brassy bleat familiar from her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne, Love This Giant.
New single “Prince Johnny” explores yet another side of Clark best represented by her masterful 2011 effort Strange Mercy, striking a fine balance between oblique lyrical wit, searing, impressive intelligence, and pop sensibility. It’s a dense character study, a declaration of independence, and a vehicle for eerie choral chug, all at once—and while taking on just one of those identities would render the song fulfilling, Clark’s ability to stuff it with all three without exploding is what makes her one of the most compelling artists working today.
