St. Vincent (2014)

Quirky electro-indie from a Dallas girl.  I have read a lot about her in the past, as she was something of an indie darling with Rolling Stone over the past few albums, but I never checked out her music.  After the RS review of her new album (St. Vincent), I gave it a try and it is twisted fun.  You may have heard Birth in Reverse:

or Digital Witness:

on the radio here in Austin, those are in heavy rotation these days.  Both are great glimpses at the sounds she's got on this album, some basic beats with tunes over the top that range from quirky Bjork horn sections to pop synth swells to driving guitar rocking.  And she has a great voice to slide right over the top and then through those arrangements.  I also love the lyrics to Digital Witness, about our obsession with being seen online by other people.  I mean, how obnoxious are people who can't listen to music without telling the entire world about it?  Oh, wait.  Well, regardless of the irony, this song is fantastic.

Before this album, she did a collaboration with David Byrne that has a very similar sound to this album, but with some Talking Heads singing on there.  Her 2011 album (after one listen) is generally good synth-pop indie music, but is not nearly as immediately appealing as the new disc.  A little bit of the quirk that was coming, but not as easily accessible for me.  2009's Actor is much more gentle, still some odd adventuresome sounds, but more Tori Amos than Bjork.  Here is Cruel, off of 2011's Strange Mercy:

Also of note, she jammed with Nirvana at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction this year, and it was disappointing.  This video was shot by someone in the nosebleeds and is not great quality, but you'll get the idea.  Her voice is too nice to properly replace Cobain, who sounded like he was dying when he sang this song.  But still, if I could go see her do a full show with the surviving Nirvana guys, I'm there in a heartbeat.