St. Vincent gives fans another taste of her forthcoming album, Daddy’s Home, with the release of her latest single “The Melting Of The Sun.”
The new track sees Annie Clark switching gears from the glam rock-inspired scuzz of “Pay Your Way In Pain,” and instead portrays a more reflective side to the “glamour that’s been up for three nights” theme.
Ultimately positive in nature, “The Melting Of The Sun” demonstrates Clark’s tenacity for rich and poetic storytelling and serves as a mantra to keep going. The song also pays lyrical homage to a cast of St. Vincent inspirations – musical, personal, and other – from “Saint Joni” who “ain’t no phony” to “Proud Nina” who “got subpoenaed singing “Mississippi good goddamn.”
Ahead of the album’s release on May 14, the chameleonic singer has shared two singles, “Pay Your Way In Pain” and “The Melting Of The Sun,” along with announcing she’ll be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on April 3, along with Kid Cudi and Daniel Kaluuya as host.
Daddy’s Home marks the seventh studio release from St. Vincent and was inspired by her father’s release from prison. This new era sees the singer-songwriter create a hyper-stylized world as she uses stories of being “down and out in New York” as a medium to express a yearning for humanity in a consumer-orientated society.
In an interview with The Guardian, Clark said “I was watching the various mechanisms of power crumble, or at least get rocks thrown at them. And it seems like people have to make some Faustian bargain between dignity and survival. Everybody just wants to be loved. We want to have a little shelter and a little food. But we’re caught in a system that makes that hard for most people.”
While St. Vincent is no stranger to personas, and her latest 70s noir character marks a strong departure both stylistically and musically.
“I felt I had gone as far as I could possibly go with angularity,” she told Mojo. “I was interested in going back to the music I’ve listened to more than any other – Stevie Wonder records from the early 70s, Sly And The Family Stone. I studied at the feet of those masters.”
Daddy’s Home is out on May 14 and can be pre-ordered here.
