![]() “Fruit” has some of the best arrangements I’ve heard in quite a while. I supposed there are some funk and mid-‘90s alternative influences there (not to mention the choral backing, which has always been a favorite of mine), but most of it is so well crafted to Clark’s tendencies that she makes it her own, through and through. One of the more cleverly named songs in recent memory, “Neutered Fruit”, has a style that can only be described as Clark’s own. “Cheerleader”, a sad journey through Clark’s misdirected good intentions, billows back and forth like the inhale/exhale of some psychedelic bagpipe. But even in those instances, there are portions of each song that weigh heavier than normal. The exceptions are the title track and the first single, “Surgeon”, which is actually one of the weaker songs on the album. Clark’s signature distorted electric guitars are in full force on most tracks. More so than ever, she’s taking the inherent grandiosity of her instrumentation to its natural conclusion, turning each track into a swelling, jangly, distorted, yet organized chaos (think Arcade Fire with feedback), rather than constantly reeling it back in, which was one of the reasons Actor felt half-baked to me. Strange Mercy marks a sonic growth for Clark. I wanted to give myself a second chance to let Clark ‘wow’ me the way she did many others with Actor two years ago. Vincent is one of the reasons I wanted to write this review for Strange Mercy. I loved a few tracks (“Actor out of Work”, “Marrow”), but it faded from my mind after a week of listening to it. Vincent, Actor, was an album that I never truly embraced. Unfortunately, Annie Clark’s sophomore album (and most successful) as St. Many of the albums I review come from artists and bands I’m comfortably familiar with, so there’s some semblance of background knowledge. When I first started writing this review, I had trouble finding the right words to lead with. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |