February 25 marks the release of St. Vincent's self-titled fourth solo album, the follow up to 2011's Strange Mercy. 31-year-old singer-guitarist Annie Clark spoke with Rolling Stone in a recent interview about the upcoming record saying that she gets her best ideas for songs while she's trying to fall asleep.
"Digital Witness" came to her on a restless night and the ballad "Huey Newton" came to her during an Ambien-induced hallucination. "My subconscious is smarter than I am," she told them. "It puts things together in ways I don't always understand."
About "Digital Witness," a song that disses our reliance on social media, she said, ""People feel so compelled to document their every tiny, mundane moment that you start to lose track of what's actually meaningful. I wonder if, in the future, privacy will be something that only the one percent can afford."
Her influences these days call on decades of rock, including Led Zeppelin, Yes and Sonic Youth. "I'm always pushing myself," she told RS. "Not just trying to imitate the old rock lexicon, which I love dearly and know intimately, but trying to chase down what I imagine."
The 11-track effort is being released via her new label Loma Vista/Republic Records and was recorded in Dallas with Dap-Kings drummer Homer Steinweiss and Midlake percussionist McKenzie Smith. John Congleton (Modest Mouse, the Mountain Goat), who previously helmed St. Vincent's Actor and Strange Mercy, produced the album.
Check out the full interview here, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
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