Released: 2017

Genres: Art Pop, Synthpop, Alternative Dance, Electropop

The Musiquarium’s Masseduction Review Score: 8.5 out of 10

Annie Clark had spent the early half of the 2010s becoming an absolute rockstar, as well as a critical darling, with a trio of critically-acclaimed albums and even a collaboration with David Byrne of Talking Heads. According to her, Strange Mercy was “housewives on pills” and St. Vincent was “near-future cult leader” and this time, the music was something more personal, juxtaposing with a big pop sound.

Hang on Me is an understated, but equally thrilling intro, with a tasty guitar solo and an extremely palatable Annie Clark vocal. Pills is a poppy satire of modern pharmaceutical dependencies, where everything can be solved with a simple pill; “pills to wake, pills to sleep, pills to fuck, pills to eat”; the song ends with an almost Bowie-like outro. The title track is St. Vincent channeling Prince and being her most seductive and risqué (“I can’t turn off what turns me on!”, Lolita is weeping”). Sugar Boy is a hyperactive dance track, with a choral chant at the end.

Los Ageless critiques the plastique, with the help of a killer rhythm and warbling synths, a memorable chorus, and a musique concrète style ambient ending.On Saviour, Clark sings about how she doesn’t want to be a saviour or martyr, with probably her sauciest lyrics yet (“you dress me up in a nurse’s outfit, it rides and sticks to my thighs and hips, you put me in a teacher’s little denim skirt, ruler and desk so I can make it hurt”).

Dancing With a Ghost is a less than minute-long, and acts more like an intro to the next track, Slow Disco, which is a string-laden ballad. Happy Birthday, Johnny and New York are both also ballads, though the latter is quite profane. Smoking Section is a downbeat closer that kind of feels like a cigarette.

Masseduction is a marvellous combination of St. Vincent’s indie rock sound and the pop sensibilities that she’s been developing throughout her career. The album is full of hooks and danceable grooves, but there’s still enough of Annie’s naked honesty and guitar-playing across the album. I feel like there are maybe a little too many ballads here, but those tracks on their own are fine. With saying that, Masseduction is still an accomplished pop rock album that never feels like St. Vincent is selling-out, but just trying new sonic palettes, as she always has.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view St. Vincent on Discogs.

Back to the 2017 Album Guide or the St. Vincent Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard