St. Vincent recently released, “The Strangers,” the first track from her upcoming sophomore album Actor. The song seems like a logical step from her great debut debut album Marry Me, which was her first solo album after spending time with both the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. “The Strangers” has a four on the floor bass drum pulse with her laissez-faire orchestration that is layered with her omnipresent guitar noodling. Her voice (which sounds like Jenny Lewis at times) is echoed at parts and is as striking as ever. The lyrics are seemingly downtrodden and are occasionally juxtaposed with her singing “make the black hole blacker.” Like most of her songs, I can’t tell if it really is a sad song or not, but either way, it’s interesting and makes me excited to hear more from her next record.

St. Vincent “The Strangers” (mp3)

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