4AD Session

For anyone who\'s never known the otherworldly experience of St. Vincent in a live setting (or for those who can’t get enough), the good folks at 4AD had Annie Clark record a live session at Brooklyn\'s Shangri-La Studios. Along with a taut band featuring Toko Yasuda on Moog, drummer Matthew Johnson, and keyboardist Daniel Mintseris, Clark performs five arresting versions of her favorite selections from 2011’s *Strange Mercy*. Setting the tone with “Chloe in the Afternoon,” her guitar sounds noticeably dirtier than the one on the album version, but she also segues into clean tones that play with a sparkling liveliness. Of course it’s Clark’s enchanting vocal timbre that takes center stage here and throughout. She croons with a palpable ache on “Surgeon,” where synthy sweeps rub against the grain of proggy guitars. And in “Strange Mercy,” her voice sounds lighter and more fragile as Mintseris provides a beautifully warped ambience behind her. Her riveting staccato in “Cheerleader” and the slightly androgynous purr in “Year of the Tiger” both sound reminiscent of a young Polly Jean Harvey.