We an't think of a lovelier way to start a week: Before you do anything else this morning, go over to our Friend Chris Cantalini's renowned MP3 blog, Gorilla vs. Bear, where you must download the first song from St. Vincent's forthcoming Beggars Banquet debut Marry Me. As we've mentioned, oh, more times than we care to recall, the 23-year-old Annie Clark's destined to be the next sumpin'-sumpin' special from around these parts, and the freebie track Beggars is making available through GvB, "Now. Now.," does nothing to disabuse us of that notion.
And while we fear the inevitable Tori Amos-meets-Polyphonic Spree shorthand brush-off, well, anyone who says that isn't swimming in the deep end of a cut that also recalls the angular-catchy-beautiful best of Kathy McCarty and Glass Eye whilst also sounding like nothing else around. Says Chris, the rest of the disc, which Clark told us recently will be released July 10, does not disappoint either: "Put simply, Marry Me is even better than we had hoped. The LP, which features contributions from David Bowie pianist Mike Garson and assorted members of Annie's other band, is not only one of the most strikingly bold, self-assured, and ambitious debuts we've heard in forever, it's also one of the best records that will be released this year." Well, we'll be the judge of that when the disc lands on our desk. Till then, download "Now. Now." now. Now. --Robert Wilonsky