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Critic Reviews
100
Actor is a uniquely potent cocktail of sounds and moods that’ll get you hooked, fast.
5y
100
It really wouldn’t be hard to wax lyrical for a dissertation’s length about the sheer brilliance of this album. There’s not a dull note or word out of place.
11y
91
St. Vincent has found her own voice—and it’s one you wouldn’t want reading your kids any bedtime stories.
15y
90
What makes this St. Vincent record outstanding is the maturity of the music. Just about every song pops with an electrical jolt that warrants a few listens to gauge exactly what’s happening.
8y
90
Annie Clark’s voice affixes a tight lynchpin to the album’s broadly creative themes, leaving it glistening with ghostly elegance.
11y
90
Clark avoids a sophomore slump by building on her debut’s template and branching off, always staying within her limits.
15y
85
This fine second album from Annie Clark's project finds the one-time member of Sufjan's band sharpening her songwriting and expanding her arrangements.
15y
82
What makes Actor an honest-to-God good record—not just a dreamy one—is the way that Clark can use such a simple formula to get such an engaging range of textures.
11y
80
There’s no shortage of standout tracks on this strange, beguiling and brilliant work.
5y
80
Those prepared to invest their time will most likely find Clarke’s rose and thorn approach enticing and undeniably impressive.
6y
80
Actor pushed St. Vincent onto a bigger, grander stage.
5y
80
A stunningly audacious second album, inspired equally by prime Prince and film soundtracks, and reminiscent of Jane Siberry's prog-pop ambition circa "The Walking."
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3y
80
Actor does a superior job of polarizing its moods, making them all the more potent when they reach their swell.
12y
80
Actor represents a more defined and daring side of St. Vincent, a side that is rather enticing.
13y
80
Annie Clark has crafted a haunting, but oddly comforting, musical landscape on ‘Actor’.
5y
80
Actor often covers the beat of its pulsing innards with sparkling, squeaking accompaniments that somehow manage to frighten and enchant simultaneously. An eerie spiderweb of sound, for sure, and one that Clark crafts masterfully.
15y
80
She’s always juxtaposed the cruel and the kind, and here, the baroque arrangements are even more complex and her voice even prettier, with both only underlining the dark currents running through her songs.
15y
80
This is some of St. Vincent's most complicated music, but its fearless creativity rewards repeated listening, as Clark has few rivals when it comes to seducing ears and challenging minds at the same time.
15y
80
An unpredictable and addictive record which should cement St Vincent's burgeoning reputation as an unnaturally talented songwriter.
15y
80
Annie Clark possesses a talent far beyond those of many of her contemporaries and clearly isn't just another girl-with-a-guitar singer/songwriter.
15y
80
For all the darkness of Actor's concerns ... it remains an exceptionally pleasurable album to listen to.
15y
77
Clark’s lyrics are less overtly clever than on her debut, and they’re more deeply buried in layers of her spastic instrumentation. Nonetheless, they suggest a subtle, abstract intelligence.
15y
70
It's the kind of album that requires your full attention, if you dip in and out you'll get lost in it and wonder what on earth is going on. But if you leave it to do it's work, it can become a magical fantasia, strange, but magical.
11y
70
Tour-de-force arrangements encompass Euro-chanteuserie, rackety synth-pop beats and big, swooning ballads, often in the same song. It's gorgeous and arresting — and, always, sneaky.
11y
70
Actor marks no huge departures her work on Marry Me, but it still manages to constantly surprise, always meshing the earthen with the industrial in strange and compelling ways.
15y
60
When dissected, there's brilliance to be found in the instrumentation, but it's numbing to listen to the tracks in succession because their most striking quality is ornamentation.
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3y
60
Though less immediate than debut ‘Marry Me’, ‘Actor’ is full of charm, picking its way through disorienting rhythm changes and peculiar progressions.
15y
60
Those with the patience for deft songwriting willl want to wait for her.
8y
60
Occasionally it drifts a little too aimlessly, as if recorded under the dulling influence of Prozac, but when she gets it right, she can be entirely, weirdly riveting.
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3y
55
Bare melodies, bare instrumentals, and bare vocals fill the tracks, making them sound empty and barren.
11y
50
Second outing from Texas songbird tries to cover too many bases at once.
6mo
This is like if pop music was made by an alien. It has structures and melodies that are pop to a T, but they're presented in a way that's off slightly. It's like stumbling through the dark, trying to make your way out of it with little to no information. Scary, but in a really cool way.
This one was a grower for me. While Annie’s debut Marry Me clicked for me on the first listen, I viewed Actor as a somewhat cheugy indie record at first (there’s literally a millennial whoop in “Actor Out of Work”), but once I saw past that I came to appreciate its brilliance.
Like her debut, what works particularly well on this album are the moments where Annie clashes experimental sounds with melody, but I’d argue Actor feels like a more cohesive project (even ... read more
After a stellar debut record Marry Me, Annie Clark as St. Vincent begins to complicate her music with contrasting emotions and continuously elaborate and dense musical accompaniment. At times serene, at others sinister, St. Vincent finds a way to mesh these contrasts into a less experimental but no less exceptional second album.
Actor was heavily inspired by the kind of massive orchestral arrangements one would find in a Disney film, which Clark used as a medium to find her humanity after long ... read more
❤️ June 2nd, Actor by St. Vincent
She's honestly done more than surpass my expectations with Actor. What a BEAUTIFUL record. From the moment that I heard the first lyric on The Strangers I knew this was going to be something noteworthy and I was kind of underselling it with my estimation. The many cohesive unique sounds strung across this album had me encaptivated prettyyy quickly. Every song is so engaging to my ears, I love it.
Highlights: Laughing With a Mouth of Blood, Just the Same But Brand New
This was a tough listen and a lot of these songs are weird as fuck and make me feel kinda uneasy, but I fuck with it honestly. First track was a stinker but otherwise a decent time.
No matter the album she’s always so good at keeping it consistent but still interesting.
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Track List
| 1 | The Strangers 4:04 | 92 |
| 2 | Save Me from What I Want 3:35 | 87 |
| 3 | The Neighbors 3:30 | 89 |
| 4 | Actor Out of Work 2:15 | 91 |
| 5 | Black Rainbow 4:11 | 88 |
| 6 | Laughing With a Mouth of Blood 3:01 | 89 |
| 7 | Marrow 3:24 | 91 |
| 8 | The Bed 3:43 | 85 |
| 9 | The Party 4:05 | 92 |
| 10 | Just the Same But Brand New 5:24 | 91 |
| 11 | The Sequel 1:53 | 81 |
Total Length: 39 minutes
Year End Lists
| #2 | / | Drowned in Sound |
| #5 | / | Slant Magazine |
| #10 | / | NPR |
| #12 | / | Stereogum |
| #13 | / | Consequence of Sound |
| #13 | / | Pitchfork |
| #16 | / | A.V. Club |
| #16 | / | Beats Per Minute |
| #17 | / | No Ripcord |
| #21 | / | Cokemachineglow |
| #21 | / | Treble |
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