St. Vincent - Masseduction (Caroline International) 2017
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MASSEDUCTION is the kind of record where every single track on it has the potential to appeal – whether lyrically or just on a more primitive sonic level – to a different kind of person, and in doing so it can serve the ultimate purpose of pulling people into the intricate and dazzling world that Annie Clark and company have so masterfully crafted.
St. Vincent’s fifth album rises up with the opening of a brand new chapter – “Masseduction is different, it’s pretty first person. You can’t fact-check it, but if you want to know about my life, listen to this record,” stated Annie Clark – and it is that approach that seems to magnify not only the content but also the effect that said content has on anyone experiencing it.
First two songs defy mainstream ideology and expectations (without a holier-than-thou attitude, if you can believe it) on a personal level, but it seems like there’s no track that reaches the level of “Happy Birthday, Johnny”… It’s a highly personal album, you “can’t fact-check it”, and most importantly is open for our own interpretations, but in the midst of the more or less cryptic messages lays something unquestionably: it’s ironically the most direct statement from Clark and probably her most creative.
Talking about every single music genre used on (and that have influenced) MASSEDUCTION would probably provoke a migraine. The experience of its constant metamorphosis, contrasts, sonically overload tracks, and the record’s unpredictable nature, on the other hand will most certainly be highly treasured.
The album is indeed a very complex and hard-to-fully-digest work, but it was designed in such a shrewd way that allows us to have fun while assembling the puzzle. It’s bleakness and darkness in a beautiful pink wrapping – and there’s much to be said about that achievement.
MASSEDUCTION is St. Vincent’s masterpiece and a gift we should be thankful to have… especially now.