Masseduction

''Masseduction'' is the fifth studio album by American musician St. Vincent, released on October 13, 2017, through Loma Vista Recordings. The album peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming her first top ten album in the United States. The album also received universal acclaim and was the fourth-most mentioned in critics' year-end lists for 2017. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, ''Masseduction'' won the award for Best Recording Package and Best Rock Song for its title track, and was also nominated for the Best Alternative Music Album.

Release and promotion

"New York" was released as the lead single from the album on June 30, 2017. The album was announced on September 6 along with a pre-order and the release of the second single, " Los Ageless". The announcement was followed by a series of cryptic, satirical promotional clips Clark (St. Vincent) posted to her social media. Clark hosted a press conference on Facebook Live to announce the album, which was in the style of the sarcastic earlier clips. "Pills" was released as the third single on October 10. The album was promoted on two different tours: the Fear the Future Tour saw St. Vincent performing solo to prerecorded tracks in theatres, while the I Am a Lot Like You! Tour saw her performing with her band mostly in festivals around the world.

Recording

The album was produced by Clark and Jack Antonoff at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, with additional recording at Rough Consumer Studio in Brooklyn, and Compound Fracture in Los Angeles. It features contributions from Doveman on piano, Kamasi Washington on saxophone, Jenny Lewis on guest vocals, and beat production from Sounwave, as well as pedal steel by Greg Leisz and Rich Hinman, and additional guitar and vocals from her uncle and aunt Tuck & Patti, respectively. Model and actress Cara Delevingne, whom Clark had dated before they split in 2016, provided back-up vocals.

Music and lyrics

''Masseduction'' has been described as the "culmination of years of writing, with songs crafted from voice memos, text messages, and snippets of melodies that came to Clark while traveling the globe." Clark has stated that the album focuses on themes of power, sex, drugs, sadness, imperiled relationships and death. In a press release, she stated: "every record I make has an archetype. '' Strange Mercy'' was Housewives on Pills. ''St. Vincent'' was Near-Future Cult Leader. ''Masseduction'' is different, it's pretty first person. You can't fact-check it, but if you want to know about my life, listen to this record."

Musically, the album has been characterized as "futuristic" pop, electropop, glam rock and new wave, while also incorporating ambient rock, "industrial-tinted techno", psychedelic rock, electronic rock and dream pop. It consists of guitar and piano, synths and strings, and drum beats "that punch with purpose".

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 88, based on 38 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". According to the site, the album was the fourth-most mentioned in critics' year-end lists for 2017. John Murphy of ''musicOMH'' praised the album, saying "it's clear that Clark has not only raised the bar but moved it several notches up. ''Masseduction'' is a remarkable record, a certain contender for album of the year and demonstrable proof that Clark is an artist working at the height of her powers," continuing: "''Masseduction'' is nothing less than an absolutely towering achievement. A year after we all mourned the loss of creative geniuses like David Bowie and Prince, we should be thankful that one of their spiritual successors in Annie Clark is on fine form."

El Hunt of ''DIY'' wrote, "Along with the equally exceptional ''St. Vincent'' which came before it, this is the moment that St. Vincent enters the fabled realm reserved for the greats." Claire Biddles of ''The Line of Best Fit'' stated that "ultimately, ''Masseduction'' defies explanation and critique, rendering the critic a dead weight in the dust of its ever-accelerating sucker-punch of ideas." ''Drowned in Sound''s Jude Clarke said, "You wouldn't want one track or note to be changed or left out. It's a genuine masterpiece: complex, funny, sexy, bleak, uplifting, inspiring and enthralling from start to finish." AllMusic critic Heather Phares said "''Masseduction'' delivers sketches of chaos with stunning clarity. It's the work of an always savvy artist at her wittiest and saddest." ''The A.V. Club''s Annie Zaleski wrote that Clark "perfects her fractured, futuristic pop vision on ''Masseduction''" and that she "captures this emotional roller-coaster in her remarkably genre-agnostic music".

The record made many appearances on best of the decades list. ''Uproxx'' listed ''Masseduction'' as the 14th best pop album of the 2010s.

Accolades

''Masseduction'' appeared on multiple year-end lists in 2017.

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Masseduction'' debuted at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming St. Vincent's first album to peak in the top ten of the chart. It sold 29,000 units in its first week, 25,000 of which were in traditional album sales. The album debuted at number six in the UK, selling 7,610 copies including streaming.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

All songs written by Annie Clark, except where noted.

; ''Masseduction''

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Masseduction''.

Musicians

* Annie Clark – guitar , vocals , synthesizers , bass
* Tuck Andress – guitar
* Patti Andress – vocals
* Jenny Lewis – vocals
* Kid Monkey – vocals
* Toko Yasuda – vocals
* Jack Antonoff – synthesizers , programming , bass , drums , string arrangements , mellotron , piano
* Daniel Mintseris – synthesizers
* Lars Stalfors – synthesizers , programming
* Sounwave – programming
* Adam Pickrell – programming
* Thomas Bartlett – piano , synthesizers
* Bobby Sparks – keyboards
* Mike Elizondo – bass
* Pino Palladino – bass
* Greg Leisz – pedal steel
* Rich Hinman – pedal steel
* Evan Smith – saxophone
* Kamasi Washington – saxophone
* Margot – strings
* Philip A. Peterson – cello
* Timothy Garland – violin

Technical

* Jack Antonoff – production, additional engineering
* St. Vincent – production, additional engineering
* Lars Stalfors – co-production
* Laura Sisk – engineering
* Sean Cook – additional engineering
* John Congleton – additional production
* Brent Arrowood – additional engineering
* Alonzo Lazaro – additional engineering
* Miro Mackie – additional engineering
* Tom Elmhirst – mixing
* Catherine Marks – mixing
* Brandon Boost – mix engineering
* Caesar Edmunds – mix engineering
* Chris Gehringer – mastering

Artwork

* Willo Perron & Associates – creative direction
* NONOT – package design
* Nedda Afsari – photography

Charts

''MassEducation''

''MassEducation'' is an acoustic reworking of ''Masseduction'', released on October 12, 2018 by Loma Vista Recordings. It was recorded with pianist Thomas Bartlett over two days during mixing sessions of ''Masseduction'', and features sparse piano-driven renditions of the album's songs. It was promoted by a reworking of "Slow Disco" entitled "Slow Slow Disco".

Track listing

All songs written by Annie Clark, except where noted. All tracks are noted as "piano version".

Personnel

* Annie Clark – vocals, production
* Thomas Bartlett – piano, production
* Pat Dillett – recording, mixing
* Chris Gehringer – mastering
* Greg Leisz – pedal steel
* Pamela Neal – photography
* Carrie Smith – package design

Charts

''Nina Kraviz Presents Masseduction Rewired''

''Nina Kraviz Presents Masseduction Rewired'' is a remix album curated by Russian DJ Nina Kraviz. It features remixes of ''Masseduction'' tracks from a variety of producers including Jlin, Laurel Halo, Population One, Midland, Pearson Sound and Kraviz. It was released by Loma Vista on December 13, 2019.

Track listing

Notes

References

{{Authority control

2017 albums
Albums produced by Jack Antonoff
Albums produced by John Congleton
Albums produced by Lars Stalfors
Albums produced by St. Vincent (musician)
Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios
Glam rock albums by American artists
New wave albums by American artists
Loma Vista Recordings albums
St. Vincent (musician) albums