THE SOUND OF ST VINCENT

Annie Clark, a New York-based musician who goes by the stage name St Vincent, previewed her third album, "Strange Mercy", at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last week. Instead of performing on the roof, as was originally planned, torrential rains ensured the event was an indoor affair. Clark played in the cavernous Temple Of Dendur, facing the ancient sandstone of a spectacular Egyptian monument. She sang barefoot, black heels kicked off beside a reflecting pool that sent spots of light ricocheting off the walls behind.

As the sound of electric guitars filled the air around the ancient monument, the contrast played to Clark's tendency for subversion. Her previous album, "Actor" (2009), juxtaposed angelic vocals and Disney themes with guitar distortion and nightmarish lyrics. Her song "Marrow" turned serene strings into an angular plea for help, while "Save Me From What I Want" built complex, atonal loops into suburban tensions reminiscent of Richard Yates: "I'm a wife in watercolours, I can wash away." St Vincent played both songs at the Met.

Some material sat uncomfortably in the difficult acoustics of the space. At times percussion bounced back off the walls with a delay. Synths helped to mask problems and marked a significant turn in St Vincent's sound. The band worked ferociously to combat reverb.

Clark's songwriting now bears a new intensity that gives melody and structure greater prominence. At the Met, "Surgeon" juxtaposed dreamy synths with counter-rhythmic guitars before disintegrating into noise. Her ballad "Champagne Year" contrasts the celebratory title with a spacious, otherworldly sound and the line, "It's not a perfect plan, but it's the one we've got". The highlight of the concert came at the top with new song "Cheerleader", in which self-deprecating verses exploded into big drums and full, rousing vocals.

The honour of playing the first show on the Met's roof garden will go to someone else in drier times. It was fitting that St Vincent should instead shake the dust off the Temple, which has a serenity that belies the ambition that built it.

~ HAZEL SHEFFIELD

"Strange Mercy" is released on September 12th in Britain and September 13th in America. St Vincent is touring from October (http://www.ilovestvincent.com/live).

Picture credit: Guus Krol (via Flickr)