A review of St. Vincent's "MassEducation"

There’s no truer test of a song’s quality than to hear it with all its production stripped away. So much music today is its bells and whistles and samples and so on. But it all comes down to the bones. That is what MassEducation is: no harmonies, no insanely talented and effect-buffed guitar playing, no dozens of takes to get that perfect sound, just Annie Clark's voice, Thomas Bartlett’s piano, and Pat Dillett’s subtle yet integral production lending a sense of continuity.

As this new release is a reinterpretation of last year’s stellar Masseduction, I’m just going to break the former down versus the latter.

"Slow Disco" - feels like the impetus for this whole thing and it’s perfect. This is the fifth iteration, also known as “Slow Slow Disco”, as opposed to “Fast Slow Disco” which was released earlier this year. This was a favorite from Masseduction.

"Savior" - Clark brandishes her voice like a glass sword. Absolutely beautiful and naked and fire. Great juxtaposition between the high piano and plucked low notes.

The repetition and layered vocals from the original version of “Masseduction" lose something here and this feels a bit harried at times.

“Sugarboy" - stripped of its frantic, coked-up, clubby chaos, we see those bones and realize there is much more to this than originally indicated. Bartlett’s piano is indispensable in making this work as well as it does. The moment towards the end where Clark makes herself laugh is wonderful.

"Fear The Future" - sounds so triumphant and timeless in this arrangement, again, thanks to Bartlett’s shimmering high notes.

Without those huge, swelling noises in the background and the massive, thudding drums “Smoking Section” feels so much more vulnerable. Originally, when Clark declared “it’s not the end”, there was a sense of certainty, but here, she plays the role of the unreliable narrator.

"Los Ageless” becomes a low key, jazz number that wouldn’t be out of place in a smoky speakeasy from the 20’s. Almost a total reworking. This arrangement is reminiscent of something by Tori Amos, which makes me want a Love This Giant-type collaboration immediately.

“New York” gains added fragility, taking on a more sorrowful tone.

“Young Lover”, one of the only tracks to get a tempo shift, loses a little something, but that’s really one of this album's only shortcomings.

“Happy Birthday, Johnny” loses its gentle bed of slide guitars and gains an absolutely gorgeous piano break. Perhaps one of the only tracks here better than the original.

I was really curious how this would go…but, thanks to that slightly detuned, demented plucked piano, “Pills” works just fine. Somehow the relatively fast vocals work here where they didn’t on “Masseduction”. Another appearance of Bartlett’s sparkling high notes seals the deal.

"Hang On Me" is an excellent closer. It’s even more perfect in this state than in its original presentation.

While Jack Antonoff’s production lent Masseduction a dynamic, immediate quality, the versions presented here feel more ageless and weighty, even those that actually sound lighter than the originals, probably because there’s less to distract from the melodies and lyrics. Not that there was really any doubt, but MassEducation further cements Clark’s songcrafting skills. For those who didn’t like the instrumentation or presentation of her last album, or for those who loved it but would appreciate a deeper, more intimate look at the album, or simply for people who like the work of a strong, female singer/songwriter to accentuate the vibe of the season, MassEducation is meant for you.

A review of St. Vincent's "Fear The Future" tour at Kings Theater on 12/2/17

Annie Clark is a human. I can now say this with complete certainty. The last time I saw her perform, in 2014 at Terminal 5, I wasn't sure; she was too cold and calculating, like some multi-function automaton that had yet to truly master a mimicry of human behavior. Even when she was vulnerable and confiding, there seemed to be a barely audible click behind each teardrop and sigh. This time however, Saturday at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, she was just a human. A guitar-murdering pocket apocalypse of a human, but a human nonetheless.

The evening started with an hour long Q&A and two-song acoustic performance*, both of which went a long way towards humanizing Clark. Then there was the very start of her first set, which featured Clark almost ridiculously overdressed in a matching pink, vinyl teddy and high-heeled boots**. As the set unfolded, so did the stage, mirroring Clark's confidence and command of the space. For the majority of the second set, Clark merely stood and sang and killed a score of guitars and utterly dominated the theater.

The first third of the show was an almost chronological tour of her past work, starting with "Marry Me" and ending with "Birth In Reverse", while the back two thirds focused on her latest. As much as I enjoy a well-varied and structured set list, hearing the whole of Msseduction from front to back was fantastic as every track had additional depth and highlights not found on the album. One downside to the performance was the overabundance of the not-so-stellar visuals, which consisted solely of extra footage from the albums' two videos and press material. Occasionally they added but more often than not they distracted.

Highlights included a reworked and almost industrial version of 2014’s “Digital Witness”, a heart-rending new string arrangement of "Strange Mercy", “Cheerleader”, and...well, pretty much everything on Masseduction.

Clark recently extended her Fear The Future tour to mid-2018, so if you can, check out a true virtuoso performing one of the best albums of the year.

Shitty photos here.

* "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood" and "the second in the 'Johnny Trilogy'", "Prince Johnny".

** She had mentioned in the Q&A that her look for the live show was a mix of "silly and sexy".