St. Vincent Has a Songwriting Credit on Taylor Swift’s New Album Lover

Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, at midnight Friday, and Dallas' own Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, is a featured co-writer on the album. Track 2, titled "Cruel Summer," lists Swift, Clark and Jack Antonoff as writers, and the upbeat song is a perfect hybrid for St. Vincent's...

By Paige Skinner

August 23, 2019

Image: Indie rock icon Annie Clark teams up with Taylor Swift again.

Indie rock icon Annie Clark teams up with Taylor Swift again. Mike Brooks

Audio By Carbonatix

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Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, at midnight Friday, and Dallas' own Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, is a featured co-writer on the album.

Track 2, titled "Cruel Summer," lists Swift, Clark and Jack Antonoff as writers, and the upbeat song is a perfect hybrid for St. Vincent's signature synthetic edge and Swift's relatable lyrics, like "I'm drunk in the back of the car / And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar / I said I'm fine but it wasn't true / I don't want to keep secrets just to keep you."

This kind of collaboration seems inevitable as the indie rocker icon steps into more of a pop mainstream, no matter how ironically, and Swift continues to diversify her sound into a moodier pop.

This isn't the first time Swift and St. Vincent have partnered up. St. Vincent was a surprise guest during Swift's 1989 tour in 2015. St. Vincent, along with Beck and Swift, performed Beck's "Dreams."

St. Vincent has also worked with songwriter and record producer Antonoff before; five songs from St. Vincent's 2018 Masseduction album were co-written with Antonoff.

"Cruel Summer" is now available to stream on all platforms.

Paige Skinner has written for the Dallas Observer since 2014.

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