St. Vincent
Foreign Born

St. Vincent is the band of singer-multi-instrumentalist, Annie Clark. The 25-year-old is a veteran guitarist for two musical armies, The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Steven's touring band. "Marry Me," St. Vincent's debut record, is now available on Beggars Banquet. On Marry Me we see a smartly crafted deluge of guitar, bass, and beats pulsing forward with warmth and immediacy alongside Annie’s classy soprano. Her lyrics can be weird or tongue-in-cheek or dead serious, capturing verily what it feels like to be 24 years old in America and caught up in the delirium of love blues and wartime blues and the various swashbuckling adventures of existence. Horns and strings cry out brassy and full-bodied over digital keyboards. Songs rock out vigorously, break down into squiggling post-noise-rock deconstructions, roll out mellow and slow-flowing as a river. Backing harmonies and kiddie choirs loom in the distance, rise, and lilt above the stately grandiosity. And she keeps good company. David Bowie’s longtime pianist Mike Garson shows up on two songs, as does Brian Teasley from Man or Astro-man but, mostly, it’s just Annie, a multi-instrumentalist for a new era.