Strange Mercy

Dallas-bred pop-rock songwriter Annie Clark, who records and performs as St. Vincent, returned home last year to put to tape her staccato-inflected follow-up to breakout sophomore album Actor. The new album, dubbed Strange Mercy, lands Sept. 13 and finds the Texas native experimenting even more with her once-supple guitar work reined in to a point, literally. Each fluttering run and angular stab at the frets is used minimally and judiciously, like a pointillist artist might use a brush while expanding her palette and getting her hands dirty with mini-Moog and sassy R&B-worthy horns. ilovestvincent.com