St. Vincent - Actor

• Gatefold
• Lyrics included

• Album Rating: 4/5 (Great)
• Sound Quality: 3.5/5 (Good)
• Packaging: 4/5 (Great)

Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent released her sophomore album Actor in 2009, and has since become a rising star in the indie rock scene. She has opened for prominent acts such as Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Xiu Xiu, and Death Cab For Cutie.

Actor is a fascinating blend of beautiful vocals, catchy melodies, and rather odd instrumentation (Odd in a good way of course). Orchestral strings, horns, and flutes are layered atop heavily distorted guitars, producing a unique sound that is endlessly enjoyable to listen to. Clark's lyrics are surprisingly morbid considering the source. The words are dark and haunting, an interesting contrast to Clark's own voice as well as much of the instrumentation, all working toward what I would describe as a very schizophrenic album (Again, in a good way).

The vinyl sounds good but is far from outstanding. The drums are hard hitting and sound fantastic, but some of the more layered tracks can sound a bit muddled. I think this is more due to the nature of the album itself than the pressing process, but it's still well worth a listen.

The packaging is well put together, consisting of a gatefold jacket with lyrics on the inside fold. The jacket itself is made of a thick, glossy, full color paper that looks really nice.

Buy Actor on vinyl here: Actor [Vinyl]