St. Vincent Dives Headfirst Into the Darkness

I wrote the album in a time when I was feeling incredibly numb. I would have these huge waves of emotion, whether they were anger or joy. And to me, those are two emotions that sort of take over. It's terrifying to let go in that way, but it can be one of the fullest [experiences] of just living, in general. So letting go is really what Surrender i... See more

But it's in the back half of the album that the euphoria starts to feel truly physical, especially the omnidirectional pull of the drum/sax interplay in "Road to Self (KO)" and the stunningly declarative outburst of implacable uptempo closer "Prologue," where the horn solos expand like crystals that spontaneously keep growing new facets until they ... See more

While recent albums from Dua Lipa, Grande and Lorde treated self-care and introspection as a kind of therapeutic salvation, Charli shifted hard into goblin mode, unfurling a litany of barely euphemistic drug references and proudly owning her messiest contradictions. (