ST VINCENT, one of the most singular contemporary pop and rock musicians, a woman Pitchfork has declared “one of the past decade’s most distinct and innovative guitarists”, will play the Galway International Arts Festival Big Top.
The Oklahoma born, Texas raised singer-songwriter, whose real name is Annie Clarke, plays the Big Top in the Fisheries Field on Tuesday July 14. The announcement of the show follows the release of Clarke’s new single, the Bowie-esque ‘Bad Believer’.
‘Bad Believer’ is one of four new songs to be featured on the expanded deluxe edition of her acclaimed, self-titled, 2014 album, which is to be released on February 6. The other tracks are US Record Store Day only single ‘Pieta’, the Japanese-only track ‘Del Rio’, the song ‘Sparrow’, and a DARKSIDE remix of previous single ‘Digital Witness’.
‘Digital Witness’ was one of the most notable tracks on St Vincent, and saw Clarke explores the downside of what Pitchfork called “our hyper-transparent, Instagram-your-every-meal culture”, but also how it is hard to nonetheless escape that medium’s influence.
“I have some restless ears,” she said in an interview, “and I now have a fractured attention span because I’m like living in the modern world. So I'm like, how do I make this sound interesting to myself?"
St Vincent was widely considered one of the best albums of 2014 and was nominated for Best Alternative Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. It also won the Maverick Award at the 2014 Q awards. Clarke herself has been nominated for Best International Female Solo Artist at The Brit Awards, alongside nominations for Best Album and Best Solo Artist at the NME Awards. Clearly an artist at the top of her game.
St Vincent’s concert is a ‘Galway International Arts Festival and Róisín Dubh presents...’ show. Tickets are €35 and go on sale on Monday at 9am via www.giaf.ie and roisindubh.net