St. Vincent

First of all, I completely missed her 2007 debut record Marry Me, so the weirdness of this girl is hitting me like a brick. Her new album, Actor, is the kind of album that you can't digest in one listen. You play a track, you are completely bewildered and confused, you make it through the album, you play it again. I've repeated this cycle about 5 times in only three days.

How many brilliant musical ideas can one cram in to 39 minutes of playing time? The first track starts with a pulsing beat and what sounds like fairies from a Disney film chanting "paint the black hole blacker". Toward the end of the track, a distorted guitar rips apart the song, like Sonic Youth wandered into the studio and started playing Daydream Nation. Things only get weirder...

"Actor Out Of Work" reminds me of Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #3": guitars buzz, the vocals soar, and angelic choirs rise in the background. This is followed by the dark swelling strings of "Black Rainbow", which would have fit nicely onto Scott Walker 4 if her voice wasn't so sweet. "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood" is folk-pop with unnerving lyrics, and "Marrow" emulates Trent Reznor's sharp dance synths and robotic chanted choruses. After "The Party", a tear jerking ballad with upbeat piano work, the album closes with two dreamy orchestral ballads. Only Joanna Newsome can do this so effectively: sound like you are singing a fairy tale and still be downright terrifying.

St. Vincent's Actor is one of this year's must-have albums. It's one of those albums that initially sounds like chaos, but eventually you realize every second is planned and every moment is bursting with great ideas. If Fiona Apple recorded more than twice a decade, she could probably be making something like this by now. Brilliant.