St. Vincent’s last album was a collaboration with David Byrne, and, from the sound of her latest song, it appears that his influence is beginning to show. Over a horn groove and a disco beat that, like “Birth in Reverse,” shows a funkier side to the singer-songwriter, her voice leaps up and down in Byrne-like yelps.
The lyrics, in typical Annie Clark fashion, are less upbeat, and more biting. Clark seems to sing about narcissism in our media-saturated age: “If I can’t show it/ If you can’t see me/ What’s the point of doing anything? … Watch me jump right off of London Bridge.” As Stereogum points out, Clark has said that with the new album, she “wanted to make a party record you could play at a funeral.” From the sound of “Digital Witness” she might have succeeded.
St. Vincent is out Feb. 25.
Previously
St. Vincent Is Back With a New Album. Hear “Birth in Reverse.”
