''Actor'' is the second album by musician
St. Vincent
Saint Vincent may refer to:
People Saints
* Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr
* Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia
* Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...
, released by
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...
on May 4, 2009, in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States. Annie Clark was influenced by
scores to films by
Disney and
Woody Allen.
To prevent
writer's block, Clark watched films without the sound and composed music for her favorite scenes. After arranging the music using
GarageBand
GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife software s ...
, she then wrote lyrics and added gentle vocal melodies.
''Actor'' was promoted on the
Actor Tour, with concerts in North America, Europe and Asia between February 2009 and December 2010.
Background
:
Reception
The album received wide critical acclaim.
In the 2009
Pazz & Jop albums survey, ''Actor'' ranked twelfth, and most of the songs on it received mentions for the singles survey. ''
Pitchfork'' gave the album an 8.5/10 rating and a "Best New Music" tag, praising the concept and describing the sound as "melodic and controlled, conjuring abrasive textures that nevertheless have a clean, meticulous quality that complements her immaculate arrangements."
It later placed ''Actor'' number 13 on its year-end list of albums, and "Actor out of Work" ranked number 52 on its list of the year's top tracks. Pitchfork included "The Strangers" at number 492 on its list of the top tracks of the 2000s.
''
The A.V. Club'' review called the album a departure from St. Vincent's debut, noting an absence of "the coy, conventional pop winks of ''
Marry Me''; even ''Actor''s lovelier moments come tinged with down-the-rabbit-hole danger." Clark has "found her own voice—and it's one you wouldn't want reading your kids any bedtime stories."
Other reviewers, such as ''
Entertainment Weekly'' and
AllMusic, praised the album's contrast of melodic pop and distorted guitars with dark lyrics.
PopMatters listed ''Actor'' number 26 on its list of the year's best albums.
Commercial performance
As of July 2011, Actor has sold 59,000 copies in US.
Singles
The first single released was "Actor out of Work" that April.
It featured "Bicycle" as a
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
. The music video for "Actor out of Work" was premiered April 10, 2009 on
Spinner.
In it, Clark auditions a series of actors who begin sobbing in front of her.
The video for "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood" features Clark with comedy duo
ThunderAnt as owners of a
feminist bookstore.
Track listing
All tracks written and arranged by
Annie Clark.
Notes
* On the album’s vinyl release, "The Sequel" is moved to the end of side A, following "Black Rainbow".
Personnel
Musicians
*
Annie Clark –
voice,
guitar,
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
,
keys
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
, etc.
* Hideaki Aomori –
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
,
alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
,
tenor and
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
saxophone
* Michael Atkinson –
French horn,
score
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
consultant
*
Daniel Hart –
violin,
sarangi
*
McKenzie Smith –
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
* Alex Sopp – flute
* Paul Alexander – additional bass
* William Flynn – additional bass
* Jeff Ryan – additional drums
* Matthias Bossi – additional drums
* Aynsley Powell – additional drums
Production
*
John Congleton – production, recording, mixing
* Annie Clark – production, additional recording
*
Greg Calbi – mastering
*
Scott Solter – additional recording
* Annabel Mehran – photography
* Lever and Beam – management
Charts
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Actor (Album)
2009 albums
4AD albums
St. Vincent (musician) albums
Albums produced by John Congleton
Baroque pop albums