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Annie Clark Masseduction Essay

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On Friday the 13th, indie art-rock singer-songwriter St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, released her fifth album Masseduction -- despite the unlucky date, Clark’s album is anything but inauspicious. With a new level of intimacy in both her music and lyrics, combinations of funk-tinged guitar and harmonically-rich cinematic crescendos, Masseduction is a cerebral “pop” album full of anthemic personal revelations. From start to finish of Masseduction’s thirteen tracks, Clark traverses through kinky sex games, leaving and being left behind, and speaks to all-things-greater -- by singing about herself. Masseduction opens with “Hang On Me”, with a pulsating beat, soft violins & bells and Clark’s airy, unearthly voice singing what sounds like a drunken …show more content…

It’s arguably the “banger” of the album and less of a social commentary than a sneak peeks into a troubled part of St. Vincent’s life, according to Clark herself. Next, comes the title song: “Masseduction”. In a recent interview, Clark claimed that Masseduction could essentially be the thesis for the album with its tagline “I can’t turn off what turns me on”. With breathy moans and sinister guitars that conjure up visions of nails digging up and down someone’s back, the words “seduction” and “destruction” are not so subtly sung interchangeably -- simultaneously poking fun at the song’s overt sexuality and yet highlighting underlying darkness. Similar story with “Savior”; Clark’s lyrics describe various kinks and role-playing situations (accompanied by Prince meets Nine Inch Nails electronic drums and slinky guitar), but then spirals into high-pitched pleading bookended by Clark commenting in a voice both lamenting and matter of fact: they call me a strange girl, they speak to me in bruises. I got 'em tryin' to save the world, they said, "girl, you're not

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