St Vincent
London Queen Elizabeth Hall
10th November, 2011

Welsh singer/guitarist Cate Le Bon opened the evening with an eight-song, 35-minute set ranging from Renaissance-like folk-prog to Cerys-esque art-pop, with clever lyrics, neat fuzz riffs and a wry way with the audience. With full band backing she’d be stunning. Annie Clark of St. Vincent (formerly of The Polyphonic Spree) is in every way – looks, voice, feisty attitude and sizzling guitar chops. She should be lauded like Flo and Joe (Bonamassa, that is), and the quintet (two keyboards, no bass), produced a mesmeric 17-song, 85-minute set, plundering their three albums for some riveting angular art-pop/ electro-chamber rock. Kaki-esque flourishes on the opening Surgeon led into the fuzz-heavy Cheerleader, Save Me From What I Want was Talking Heads with mellotrons, while Chloe In The Afternoon should lather Bjork fans. Never overstaying their welcome, her jagged tunes occasionally displayed a chart-bothering streak, as on Cruel, and the metronomic new album title track, Strange Mercy. Mark Stewart of The Pop Group guested quirkily on She Is Beyond Good And Evil, and Marrow boasted gripping Annie axework before an encore taking in a flirty foray into the audience on Your Lips Are Red. A must-see.