Further Listening

Marry Me

Beggars Banquet 2007 After performing with the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, Clark released her full-length debut as St. Vincent. (The stage name comes from the line “Dylan Thomas died drunk in St. Vincent’s Hospital” from Nick Cave’s 2004 “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”). The hallmarks of her sound are all here: theatrical art pop arrangements and surreal lyrics.

Actor

4AD 2009 In a 2009 interview with NPR, St. Vincent said watching movies provided the inspiration for her second album. The jagged “Marrow” drew from The Wizard of Oz, while “The Strangers” came from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; another standout was the frenetic-sounding yet catchy single “Actor Out of Work.”

Strange Mercy

4AD 2011 St. Vincent’s third album was released in 2011, a difficult period for Clark and her family. A sense of tension runs through the record in tracks like the pulsating “Cruel,” the avant-garde pop of “Chloe in the Afternoon,” and the metallic stomp of “Cheerleader.” The dramatic “Surgeon” was inspired by a line from Marilyn Monroe’s diary referencing the famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg.

St. Vincent

Loma Vista 2014 Until Masseduction, this record was Clark’s most brash-sounding effort, with memorable cuts like the New Wave-ish “Birth in Reverse,” a meditation on the mundane, and the funk-driven “Digital Witness” a commentary on our obsession with social media.

Masseduction

Loma Vista 2017 Her first album to reach Billboard’s Top 10, Masseduction saw Clark go mainstream. Co-produced by hitmakerjack Antonoff, hard-hitting tracks like the “Los Ageless,” the industrial-leaning “Fear the Future,” the pointed and satirical “Pills” and the thrilling title cut pummel the listener . Subdued numbers like “New York” and “Happy Birthday, Johnny” counteract the bombast.