She's gone much farther vocally than I ever expected but in no way is she a better vocalist than Bowie.
People tend to forget Bowie was never truly musically trained, and most of his songs are technically ‘wrong’ in some aspects, whereas Annie went to Berklee in Boston for three years. That’s not saying she’s technically more gifted than Bowie ever was, but it’s saying something how very similar songs can come together through vastly different backgrounds and eras.
She really should be applauded for rising above this, by the way. She was probably in classes with guys from Imagine Dragons, Karmin, and Maroon 5.
Really don't get the Bowie comparisons, lets just enjoy what an innovative fun album this is....Loving it
The album’s great, folks. No reason not to give it a listen. Incredibly solid. Parts are like John Lennon meets Pink Floyd (“Live In The Dream”) and one harkens back to the Actor era almost (“Somebody Like Me”). Yeah, this will be on repeat all weekend until my CD comes in the mail. Then I’d put my player through the paces.
Are you mad? Better vocalist. Hahahahaah man album is on 4 rotation. Is good album. Easy listened album 3*/5*. Lp is on the way
I don’t think Bowie was ever expected to be held to account specifically for his guitar-playing skills. A strange way to compare the two.
Just listened to the record vaguely while showering. I like the more organic vibe, which goes back to her first three records. The guitar and wurlitzer reminds me of You Gotta Go There To Come Back by Stereophonics. Still deciding if I should get the vinyl or the cd, it might be quite nice in the car when (or should I say if?) we go to France this summer.
If I could add something here. Whilst Bowie was always trying to ‘fake it’ - as i think even he described it - he did it with a kind of openness and charm that I feel is lacking in Annie Clarke. He was happy to be seen as a kind of goofy loveable one of the lads type person at heart. He could chuckle at himself and the whole business. In contrast Annie feels cold calculating and remote. Her songs do not convey any emotional warmth to me. And her attempt to discuss her own life in her songs does not come across as deeply felt or generalised in a way that a listener can engage with as insight or feeling. (I point this out as Bowie could at least in the earlier pop song-writing part if his founding career.) Annie comes across as detached controlled and contrived at least through her public persona. That sounds harsh, I know. But that interview also points to this. It is daft using your own life as material if you are not able to talk about it in a relaxed and open manner. She cannot. Maybe she will learn to do so, but this is how she comes across to me so far. My personal take on her, and I’m sure others will disagree.
Highly enjoyable new record, i've been streaming it all morning. Looking forward to picking up a physical copy over the weekend.
Interesting that the choice of instant grat tracks / singles avoided some of the strongest tunes on the album. Liking it a lot it so far. The Young Americans / Best Years Of Our Lives / No Other moments are there but it doesn't bug me like it did in that tv thing. Just need a steer on the brutality of the vinyl mastering so as to know which format to go for. After the Lana DR vinyl fiasco I am taking no chances.
Just gave it a listen and I'm really impressed. Masseduction never quite clicked with me so this is a welcome return to form. I was actually surprised how mellow it was but the songwriting is really strong throughout the album. I could have done without the humming interludes though. My three standout tracks were Candy Darling Somebody Like Me Live In The Dream
I see where you are coming from which is why she makes me think of Cindy Sherman and Gilbert & George. So many layers to the performance onion. So separated from everyone and everything else. You are only ever getting what they want to give you. Never knowingly caught off duty. Bowie however seemed to always have at least one foot in South London and his fan enthusiasms. Not burdened with Ferry's class anxieties so never modulating his voice to disguise or distract.. I don't think it was ever a put-on like some of Jagger's personas for example. The difference being that Bowie's characters are all versions of Bowie not an act. I never disbelieve a Bowie record. I often find myself second guessing what St Vincent's music provokes / evokes in me, looking for the catch. Though when she talks about Kate Bush in that BBC doc she comes across rather differently. That version of her is what got me reconsidering her records.
My initial reaction? Loving it. It's fun and more accessible on first listen than anything else I've heard by her.
I was a huge fan since getting into her after Strange Mercy. Her self-titled album is one of my favorite albums by any artist. That tour was amazing too. Masseduction or whatever took years to click for me. The piano version was good but just made me wish the original album was better. Anyway, I had lowered expectations for this new album. Just finished streaming it. I love it! Great vibe, wonderful vocals, and some of her best songwriting in years. Solid 9/10 from me.
I'm fascinated by the ongoing Bowie vs Annie discussion, as though there's not enough space in the musical ether for both to exist. Bowie is my all-time favorite artist, and Annie is one of my current favorites (in large part, no doubt, to her Bowie-esque proclivities). Actor and Strange Mercy are a couple of my favorite albums from this millennium, though I'm not sure either one of them quite reach the "iconic" status that many of DB's albums do, at least for me. I think she has at least one all-time classic album in her, but I'm happy to continue to follow her even if that doesn't turn out to be the case (granted I haven't listened to Daddy's Home yet...waiting on my vinyl to arrive). Oh, and Annie can certainly shred with the best of them (and I wish she'd do it more), but she's nowhere near David's league as a vocalist.
Agree to disagree, but I think Annie's voice is superb (and multi-faceted for different styles) for a rock-pop vocalist, and I rank it better than Bowie's. Annie can be a real chameleon vocally, and she harmonizes incredibly well. Bowie has a cool voice and memorable, but he always sounds like Bowie to me. I don't think he has nearly her octave range. I think this track showcases her range, whispery to shouty to crooning, low to incredibly high, three part harmony with herself...especially the last 2 minutes, just amazing:
It's fine that Bowie wasn't an instrumental virtuoso. I'm not saying he's a bad artist because he wasn't a guitar master. But if comparing St Vincent and Bowie, well both are songwriters and compose songs on guitar, so I'm simply saying Annie is a better guitarist than Bowie, especially when you watch her shred live, and I'm appreciating her work for that. Not really dissing Bowie. Her MassEducation stripped down acoustic record is all her playing acoustic guitar and it's really good. Check it out!
Awesome. I enjoy Annie's voice more than Bowie's. She seems to hit high and low notes with more grace, to my ears, than he did. But yeah, I know nothing. Just my opinion, don't let it trigger you. Feel free to ignore.
Agreed! The influences are clear but I think she's done more than enough quality songwriting on her own here to warrant a separation from parody or for it to feel frivolous. I definitely feel it's the companion album to Actor, in a way that she took the sounds of the old films and mixed it with 2000s indie rock to tell her own story and she's really done the same here with a range of 70s styles. I thought after the first single that she was going full Young Americans but luckily not. The album turned out very slow, very moody and quite sweet compared to Pay Your Way In Pain. Live In A Dream is just gorgeous, it feels like "Just The Same But Brand New" off Actor but more grown up. The Laughing Man and Somebody Like Me are phenomenal songs too. Some of her most emotionally resonant lyrics since Strange Mercy are hiding in here too. What in the world, what in the world, would my baby say? "I got your eyes and your mistakes" I wanna run, I wanna run, I wanna chase The еnding I can't see Then I won't have no legacy 'Causе I won't write no symphonies Won't have no streets named after me Won't even have your sympathy No one will scream that song I made Won't throw no roses on my grave They'll just look at me and say "Where's your baby" I mean, come on, she's got a way with words.
Vocal range in octaves is hardly a measure of a good vocalist, just look at Madonna and her 3 octaves compared to Beyonce's same.
I think Bowie could also be pretty cold, calculating, and remote, yet I find St. Vincent even more of a hollow “actor” than he was, as reflected by the title of one her albums. One day several years ago, I was watching the video for “Digital Witness” on YouTube, and my wife, who has no dog in the fight over the nuances of indie coolness, walked into the room and was repelled by it, largely, I think, by the blank, affectless persona St. Vincent projects in that video, and the robotic “yeahs” that punctuate the admittedly catchy music. I get it if people think that sort of role playing and irony is oh-so-clever and artistic, but, increasingly, I don’t, and prefer the Bowie songs such as Life on Mars that at least flirt with real human emotion to the detached role playing of Low, Heroes, and songs such as “Fascination,” although by working with “real” soul musicians on Young Americans, and simply by existing in the 70s before the advent of ProTools and other modern recording techniques, Bowie managed to straddle the line between the heartfelt and the intentionally fake to a degree I don’t hear in St. Vincent’s music. While this new album is ostensibly supposed to be “realer” and “grittier” than Masseduction, what I’ve heard of it so far is the same empty hall of mirrors as the previous album. In 2021, maybe that’s the only kind of art we need or deserve, so I do sort of get why St. Vincent is so feted. She’s making the best of a bad cultural moment better than anyone else.
