poses a doll-like Annie Clark, seemingly frozen in time like on the album's cover art. This surrealistic photograph seems to embody the same bewilderment one feels when listening to St. Vincent's music. Lost in the foggy wonderland of obscure lyrics, her sweet voice and the ever-evolving background music that surprises with every turn.
Unfortunately, I must admit a slight bias toward the album in my juvenile crush on the beautiful, intelligent and mysteriously alluring rock 'n' roll woman that is Annie Clark. On opening track ""The Strangers,"" she first lays down a cool and catchy sequence of loopy melodies before she slights a lover, ""Desperate don't look good on you / Neither does your virtue."" About two and half minutes into the song, the collision of her static, ingenuous guitar comes in full-throttle as an unexpected treat.
yes""> Her obscurity as a poet shines through in one of the album's catchiest tunes, ""The Party,"" which closes by reflecting upon the hesitant words, ""But I sit transfixed by a hole in your T-shirt / I've said much too much in the trying to speak up.""
Although the album was perhaps not as revolutionary as our top ten candidates, the artistic fact that she used GarageBand to arrange the album must be considered. Never failing to appeal with her choral voice atop the hazy musical landscape, the enigma of Annie Clark persists.
