A few weeks ago I found myself with an inordinate amount of new music to listen to. There were new albums from several of my favorite artists like Wilco, Ryan Adams, and Coldplay, as well as new stuff from artists more up-and-coming on my radar, like M83 (only recently got his breakout Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts), Feist, Trinity Grace Church (the church I went to in New York, whose new album I was seeing a lot from friends), and finally St. Vincent, whose music I’ve liked for a few years but have never really found all that amazing.
Her new album, however, I cannot stop listening to. It’s called Strange Mercy and I think the only reason I knew it had come out was because I subscribe to Pitchfork’s “Best New Albums” feed where I saw they gave it a 9.0, which is quite high. So I listened to it and it was okay, but it definitely didn’t catch my ear instantly or demand an immediate repeat hearing. So I ended up spending more time on the other albums that I had yet to fully digest, albums that I honestly expected more from than from adorable Annie Clark’s third LP. So I spent a brief moment with Wilco, wore out Ryan Adams’ newest rather quickly, did the same with Coldplay. The rest are not bad and will continue to get plays (really, the Feist and TGC albums are both pretty good), but none of them has continued to keep my attention like Strange Mercy.
And now I come to the point, which is this interesting thing that happens when I hear new music. It’s like an inverse proportion: the more accessible, catchy, or initially likeable something is, the less likely it is to have staying power in my rotation. Likewise, I find that the things I can really listen to over and over and over are the things that weren’t so easy to get into at first. I do find, however, that what often leads to repeat hearings is a moment or a song that does catch the ear or does somehow demand a repeat. With Strange Mercy it was the chorus of one song that beckoned to be heard again, that on the title track “Strange Mercy.” It only appears once at the end of the song, but the song is all the more powerful for it. For whatever reason I find it’s large intervals and descending harmony mesmerizing and beautiful.
So, to sum up: go listen to Strange Mercy and give it a little time to open up.
