I impulse-bought this album after hearing Your Lips Are Red once on the radio. This is truly an original, compelling song. I love the driving trip-hop drums and bass, the silky vocals, the Fiery Furnace-like instrumental interludes. Overall Annie Clark is an impressive song writer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist. And she has a beautiful voice that you can't help but fall in love with. Paris Is Burning is a similarly strong song- mysterious, compelling, instrumentally very interesting.

But after these two songs, the album loses steam and gets almost elevator-music-ish. I suspect Annie Clark is going for irony with the choruses of "oohs" and "aahs" and sensitive piano bar solos, but she risks not crossing that threshold into irony and sounding insipid. All My Stars Are Aligned is one such song- I love the poignant irony of the lyrics, but the music flutters and falters. And in Now Now, the music is layered and interesting, but the lyrics don't quite deliver. Also, Annie's voice is incredibly powerful and versatile, but she rarely strays from the romantic whispery crooner tone. I kept wanting her to let down her guard and start belting it out.

Don't get me wrong- I'm a lover of indie pop. I like a lot of the bands other reviewers compare to St. Vincent, like Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens. But this album, while interesting and original, is no Mysterious Production Of Eggs or Illinois. It's a decent first effort though, and I'd say it's still worth buying just for that Your Lips Are Red song.

she can't stop listening to it. so i guess it is that good

fantastic music

She's been a part of the Polyphonic Spree's twee orchestra, toured with Sufjan Stevens, and many other bands as well, ranging from the Arcade Fire to Xiu Xiu.

So it wasn't entirely clear what style Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) would embrace in her solo debut, "Marry Me." But she does a brilliant job with what she does choose -- a swirling, multifaceted brand of lush indiepop, crammed with quirky instrumentals and charmingly witty little lyrics. It's absolutely stunning.

It kicks off with "Now Now," a catchy little dulcimer-wrapped tune. Clark sings that she's not a carpet, an atomic bomb, a dog, and that: "You don't mean that say you're sorry/You don't mean that I'll make you sorry..." as the strings and drums rev up. She follows it up with the whimsical "Jesus Saves, I Spend," a distinctively quirky pop tune punctuated by babyish noises, smooth keyboard and solid powerpop riffs.

But the album's tone changes drastically with "Your Lips Are Red," which the Dresden Dolls wouldn't be ashamed off -- tortured violins, plunking cabaret piano, erotic overtones and "cities black from all the ashes in downtown." After that, the album slips down into gentler, more lush pop tunes -- quirky romantic ballads, rainy piano tunes, swirling pop epics, and ends with a couple of springtime anti-folk songs.

The best song: "Paris is Burning," a swaying Weimar-styled mass of horns, synth and strings -- it seems to be from the POV of a slain WWII soldier. "We are waiting on a telegram to give us news of the fall/I am sorry to report dear Paris is burning after all/We have taken to the streets in open rejoice revolting/We are dancing a black waltz, fair Paris is burning after all..."

If you listen carefully, you can hear a few hints of various musical influences in "Marry Me" -- moments where St. Vincent's musical experience is briefly glimpsed. But most of the time, she sounds like Regina Spektor and Feist by way of Arcade Fire -- she has a unique blend of quirky, offbeat instrumentation and lyrics, and lush melodies infused with bossa nova, folk, pop, and a bit of rock.

Of course, that quirkiness could have rendered this album totally twee and irritating. But Clark does a brilliant job wringing catchy melodies studded with odd moments (is she throttling that guitar?), and even though the second half is far quieter and less experimental than the first, it's still a magnificent little experience.

St. Vincent -- who played virtually everything on here -- somehow softens the sputtery bass, drums and electric guitars with a web of gauzy dulcimer, handclaps, synth, xylophone, trickling piano, and occasionally a shifting wall of strings. So much is layered into this that they should sound dense, but instead they sound ethereal and effortless.

And Clark's sweetly powerful voice does the music justice, flipping from joyously wicked to sweetly romantic in a moment, and backing herself with an oddball chorale -- sometimes she sounds like a child, an angel, or a bunch of radio-broadcast imps. And her brilliant songs have their bleak moments -- like the Shakespearean "come sit right here and sleep/while I slip poison in your ear" -- but more often, her focus is on love's sorrows and joys. Mostly joys. "Collect the love that I've been given/build a nest for us to sleep in here..." she sings meditatively.

"Marry Me" is the pop debut that most singers can only dream of -- exquisitely beautiful, alluring and quirky. An absolute gem from start to finish.

Once in a while, a new voice or sound comes seemingly out of nowhere, and this is certainly one of them. Amy Clark, the one-woman band behind St. Vincent, has been active in the music scene for years, including in the Polyphonic Spree, and now delivers her debut album.

"Marry Me" (12 tracks, 44 min,) brings eclectic sounds somewhat reminiscent of Feist, but with a different twist. A blazing "Now, Now" kicks things off. "Your Lips Are Red" reminds me of early Bjork. The title track is a pensive piano-driven 'ballad'. On "Paris Is Burning" you feel like you are transformed into to early Paris 1920s cabaret but with an electronic twist to it, just great. Other highlights include "The Apocalypse Song", reminding me of some Fiona Apple; the pensive "We Put a Pearl in the Ground"; and the closer, a jazzy-like "What Me Worry". In all, quite an impressive debut album, and I can't wait to see where she takes things from here.

I had the fortune of catching St. Vincent last Fall in Chicago on her tour in support of this album (she opened for the National). She appeared solo (mostly with electric guitar), and put on a mesmerizing performance, just loved it. I can't wait to see her on the road with a full band, which is supposed to happen this Spring. Sign me up! Meanwhile, "Marry Me" is highly recommended! And if you wonder which radio station plays St. Vincent, look no further than WOXY, the internet-only indie-rock station ("BAM! The Future of Rock and Roll!"), playing the best music in the country, bar none.

This CD, from start to finish is addictive. If it's not playing in my stereo it's playing in my head. Smart, witty lyrics, Annie's BEAUTIFUL voice, the unusualness of it. I've recommended it to several friends who have thought like 99% of those who have reviewed this CD on Amazon..simply amazing. A "gotta have" CD if I ever get stuck on a deserted island....