Meet Annie

It has the weird-pop (I’ll coin that now) vibe and distinctive female vocals of Whokill. It has references to the Bourgeoisie and songs about Tigers like Mirror Traffic. It has that satisfying mix of straight-forward songwriting and experimental electricity/eclecticity (I’ll coin that too) of The Whole Love (or at least Art of Almost). It has the supreme guitar presence of my number one album of the year. It was created by Annie Clark, who did covers of Downtown Train and Big Black Mariah live last year, so Tom Waits and his Bad As Me are clearly influences. It rocks the Moog synthesizer just like In the Mountain in the Cloud. It is St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy and it is very, very good.

The gateway song here is Cheerleader. It starts out with a delicate guitar and violin plucks for the first fifty seconds before abruptly blasting into the fuzzed out staccato guitar and sonic synthesizer of the chorus as she sings "I, I, I, I, I don't want to be a cheerleader no more." The song alternates between these soft and loud motifs with a gradual subtle build that kicks in fully at about 2:50. This slow, almost imperceptible build is something that happens a lot on the album and probably one of the reasons I'm so drawn to it. Another reason I like it so much is that as I began to get into the album one song would turn the key and open the door to another that I'd overlooked initially. The next song, Surgeon, is one that I didn't may much initial attention to, but then one day I noticed the funkadelic guitar/synthesizer/bass solo and accelerating melody of the conclusion and I was hooked. Going back and listening now, I appreciate the brilliance of the dreamy beginning as it builds to the frenzied end. From there, I gradually peeled back layer after layer and discovered a gem of an album that consists of eleven amazing and original songs that fit beautifully together as a cohesive unit.

The thing I love the most, I think, about this album is the presence of the guitar. More than Annie's voice even, I think her guitar work is the star of the show. From the distorted order-in-chaos of Northern Lights to the crunch of Neutered Fruit to the funk giving way to prog on Dilettante to the swaggered groove that runs through the closer, Year of the Tiger, she creates a wide array of compelling sounds with her instrument of choice.

The highlight of the album, and probably one of my top five songs of the year is the title track. It has a sort of sleazy, dirty melody that makes me think of something sinister happening in the rain in a bad 80's movie. The song stops at about 2:10 save for a dreamy guitar behind the delicately sung lyric "Oh little one, I'll tell you good news that you won't believe. If it would help you sleep. Strange mercy." Then it kicks into full gear with the best build of the album (and the year) and one of the best lyrics of the year, "If I ever meet that dirty policeman who roughed you up..."

Sujfan helped her get her start and she follows his list-topping effort from last year with my second favorite album of this year. The two albums share unusual song structure, diverse instrumentation and above all an addictive sense of adventure. I can't wait to see what Annie Clark comes up with next. In the end, though, she couldn't quite edge out my top album of the year. I'm pretty sure the only reason they rushed back into the studio was to redeem themselves on the CDMC blog this year. They blew my mind last year. This year, by creating an even better album, they didn't only blow it again, they changed it too.