Early discussions around Annie Clark’s fifth album as St. Vincent were driven by questions regarding its potential mass-culture appeal.

The singer-songwriter was now a subject of tabloid interest. She was working with Jack Antonoff, a producer famous for his hits with Lorde and Taylor Swift. Was Clark due for a zeitgeist moment? In reality,

the project wasn’t so dramatic a pivot. It was—shocker—another sequence of richly compelling songs, given greater heft thanks to Clark’s feverish performances.