Concertwire.com

Strange Mercy, the beguiling new album from St. Vincent, is an unsparing examination of personal catharsis cloaked in some of the most sublime music of front woman Annie Clark's career. “Many of the songs are about wanting relief from pain, and searching high and low for release,” attests Clark. Such powerful emotions prompted -- demanded, really -- not just a bracingly candid lyrical style but a new musical approach. Clark again conjured her impeccably vivid soundscapes on her newest offering, but Strange Mercy features very little of the baroque strings, woodwinds, and reeds that marked Actor. "I wanted to make things direct and immediate," Clark says. "I didn't tinker. I tried to keep the arrangements pretty simple and use just enough instrumentation to get the point across. I didn't want anything to get in the way." Consequently, it's a much more guitar-oriented album than Clark has ever made. Clark is one of the most gifted guitarists to come along in the new millennium, and Strange Mercy is filigreed with indelible hooklines and ingenious rhythm parts, not to mention a concise and debonair solo on "Neutered Fruit" and a couple of Frippy freakouts. Strange Mercy is what happens when the very picture of elegance and poise confronts turmoil and grief: You can either gaze in mute despair at those pieces lying on the floor, or you can make something beautiful, even transcendent out of them, but only by confronting yourself.