St. Vincent got all my attention with All Born Screaming and its contrasting, powerful, moving aesthetic. Review of an essential record.
ALL BORN SCREAMING – ST. VINCENT
Since its release last week, I’ve listened to St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming a dozen times at least. And I don’t plan on stopping any time soon, for this album is a massive slap with each spin. The rightfulness of its whole atmosphere has surprised me, moved me, and got me vibrating on its strongest instants. From Hell’s doors opening in the ethereal and delicate Hell Is Near, to the powerful re-birth contained in the last track, St. Vincent has created an absolutely essential and unmissable album.
Hell Is Near is not the only delicate song on the record, though, but an incredible introduction, spiritual, intriguing and captivating. Reckless seamlessly follows in a darker and more refined way. Hushed backing vocals are as distinct as the main vocals. It’s shivering. On Broken Man, she sets it all on fire with some dirty riffs, attacking the spotless production at the most unexpected times. It’s a song apart from the others that unveils another side of this new album’s aesthetics, perfectly combining sophistication and rawness of sounds, as it shows on Flea. More surprising, a dash of funk jumps in, adding to the cheeky attitude of Big Time Nothing.
Then, a large split occurs with Violent Times. Here, St. Vincent proposes to suddenly dive into a James Bond-like universe, with all its thrilling and elegant atmosphere. I immediately fell for it, finding it incredibly fascinating. As sublime as this one, The Power’s Out and Sweetest Fruit get back to the aerial-grunge side of the record’s first half, with a progression that hits its paroxysm on So Many Planets. St. Vincent ends All Born Screaming with a peaceful feeling and a bright rebirth. To me, it’s all in one simple sentence: this is a masterpiece.
