Strange Mercy is album number three for Indie Pop singer song writer St Vincent, after a couple of solid releases (Marry Me, Actor) she back. I've never been a massive fan but heard good things about this album before I grabbed it so was intrigued by what all the fuss was about. It's been a fairly strong year for female artists about a week ago I reviewed the debut album by Kimbra and thought it was great so I was hoping for another strong female release.
The album starts with the track Chloe In The Afternoon, which is definitely a quirky beginning to the album, her repetition of the title throughout the chorus was a nice touch. I found the song really cool and the scuzzy sounds from the guitar were a welcome addition. Cruel was a much less experimental song with a much simpler beat which allowed St Vincent to soar off some beautiful moments vocally, again the guitar is nice in this really making this a fun track.
A couple of slower tracks in Cheerleader and Surgeon, these songs are nice and a little dream pop, with Vincent really showing her softer vocals off. They songs are nice and sweet and while minimal in the music her vocals are on shows in all its glory. I did enjoy how during Surgeon the song picked up a little later in the song to only fall back be a little bit more experimental in sounds. A favourite of mine on this album is the album title track Strange Mercy its slow, flows beautifully throughout and St Vincent just brings it all together vocally I like the mood of the song as its just eerily there at times without you realising.
One things clear on this album and thats St Vincent kills it vocally, its every bit sweet vocally and totally spot on, a lot of the tracks are dream pop sounding which is cool while still having the incporporation of indie pop as the basis of every song to run off. A few dancey track thats experiment more sound wise, otherwise its pretty slow with minimal backing. My favourite song on the album is Hysterical Strength as the intro sounds like an old school cop chase movie, its borderline hilarious but actually creates a great beat for the track.
I really do enjoy this album and it doesn't outstay its welcome at just under 40 minutes, if anythingthe songs are all pretty good but nothing standout that could make this album elite status for this year anyway. But as a St Vincent album I found this to be the best so far and if the improvement continues we could be in for something truly great from her one day.
Overall Rating: 8/10
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