MUSIC

MUSIC | REVIEW “ANALOG WITNESS,” CONTINUED...

I don’t observe all this as a criticism, either. I think that St. Vincent is making some of the most exciting, unpredictable, witty and straight-up great rock music right now, and what makes her so intriguing is that, like David Bowie or Prince before her, she unapologetically leans into the fantasy of the Mythic Rock Star. Her lyrics have occasionally provided insights into her personal life, but the fleeting glimpses we’ve gotten behind the curtain feel as performative as anything else. She allows us to project all of our assumptions about her onto her, and she’s smirking all the while.

So the fact that her new album Daddy’s Home is apparently drawn from true-life experiences is enough for any fan to raise an eyebrow. A lot has been written about her sixth solo studio album being inspired by her estranged relationship with her father, recently released from prison on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. What’s so odd, then, is that Daddy’s Home doesn’t feel like a diary entry. Certain songs have the narrative specificity of Joni Mitchell or Tracy Chapman, but they could just as well be fictions.

“I signed autographs in the visitation room / Waiting for you the last time, inmate 502,” she sings on the album’s title track, and we have to wonder, did that really happen?

St. Vincent reinvents her image for every new album cycle, and with the release of Daddy’s Home, Clark has adopted a 1970s aesthetic, complete with leisure suits and a blonde bob hairdo. Clark has said that thumbing through her own dad’s old record collection is the real inspiration behind the album, and she has fully embraced that era’s stylistic shorthand: the wah-wah pedals, the sitars, the soul-inflected backing vocals, the electric organs. She even name checks 1970s independent cinema (“Like the heroines of Cassavetes / I’m under the influence daily,” she says on “The Laughing Man”), references The Dark Side of the Moon, and has an entire song about the death of Warhol superstar Candy Darling.

As soon as the lead single, the slithering album opener “Pay Your Way in Pain,” was released in March, it garnered comparisons to Prince, Kate Bush and especially Midnite Vultures, Beck’s 1999 tribute to disco-funk and sweaty dance jams. I don’t know if Clark is specifically influenced by Midnite Vultures, or if she and Beck are merely swimming in the same pool of retro influences; they’ve both approached classic rock posturing with an off-kilter humor, that’s for sure.

Unlike St. Vincent’s artistic breakthrough Strange Mercy (2011) and her remarkable 2014 self-titled LP, Daddy’s Home feels more like a grower. It doesn’t immediately announce itself as an unassailable classic the way those earlier records did, but the more times I’ve listened to it, the more I’ve warmed to it. I’m not sure why that is, but perhaps it’s inherent in Clark’s commitment to retro pastiche: Because she’s so beholden to other artists’ styles, she can only deliver so much sonic invention.

Daddy’s Home was produced by ubiquitous pop auteur Jack Antonoff, who also co-wrote a few of the tracks, and his involvement is apparent in the solid songcraft on display. As with so many of his recent collaborations, including those with Lorde and Taylor Swift, it’s totally possible that the next time I hit play on Daddy’s Home, it will jump out to me as an especially great pop record. Or maybe it will remain a curious chapter in the ambitious career of an at-arm’s-length pop star.

Either way, Clark knows exactly what she’s doing. “If life’s a joke,” she sings, “I’m dying laughing.” n

With the release of Daddy’s Home, Clark has adopted a 1970s aesthetic, complete with leisure suits and a blonde bob hairdo.

Ice Cube plays Northern Quest Resort & Casino on July 22.

J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 06/3

A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, Open Mic Night with KC Carter ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Ryan Larsen Trio J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam THE LONGSHOT, Open Mic MOOSE LOUNGE, Country Night with Last Chance Band

Friday, 06/4

BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Shawnna Nicholson FESTIVAL AT SANDPOINT OFFICES, The Powers with

Bridges Home PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Son of Brad PEND OREILLE PLAYHOUSE, Open Mic J THE SNAKE PIT, Tod Hornby ZOLA, Carter Hudson

Saturday, 06/5

BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, NightShift THE LONGSHOT, LC Huffman PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Chris Lynch SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE, Wiebe Jammin J THE SNAKE PIT, Pamela VanKirk

Sunday, 06/6

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Macey Gard Band

Monday, 06/7

CRUISERS, Jason Michael Carroll

Wednesday, 06/9

IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Ben Murray

Coming Up ...

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Lee Greenwood, July 1 J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Ice Cube, July 22 J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Smokey

Robinson, July 24 J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Festival at Sandpoint with

St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Jake Owen & Shakey

Graves, July 29-31 J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Watershed feat. Tim McGraw,

Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini and more, July 30-Aug. 1

PERFORMANCE ON POINT

That the Spokane Youth Ballet’s summer concert is in person this year is a welcome sign we’re getting closer to the other side of this coronavirus thing. The Saturday afternoon dance concert features the ballet’s talented young dancers in the premiere of company choreographer Phaedra Jarrett’s latest, a retelling of the classic children’s story The Little Prince. Two special guests, Benjamin Tucker and Brooke Geffrey-Bowler, the latter an alumna of the Academy of Dance, where the ballet is based, are also set to perform the 1950s pas de deux — a duet featuring a male and female dancer — Spring Waters, featuring the swelling, emotional music of Rachmanioff. Young students from the Academy of Dance close out the show with a lighthearted, rom-com Coppelia. Viewers can also watch from home by purchasing a virtual ticket.

— CHEY SCOTT

Spokane Youth Ballet: Summer Concert 2021 • Sat, June 5 at 3 pm • $9-$17/in person; $25/virtual stream • Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • 509624-1200

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WORDS HITTING THE BOOKS

Since 2014, downtown Coeur d’Alene’s beloved bookstore, the Well-Read Moose, has become the go-to place for bibliophiles to thumb through a well-stocked inventory of riveting readables. The shop is celebrating its seventh birthday this weekend, beginning with a 6 pm in-store event on Friday that features local author David Taylor, whose new book, Urban Trails: Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, will no doubt be required reading for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. Get up bright and early the following morning for an actual hike on East Tubbs Hill, led by Taylor and in celebration of National Trails Day. It kicks off at 8:30 am. If you drop by the store throughout the weekend, expect deals, prizes and more summer reading material than you could ever possibly get through. — NATHAN WEINBENDER

The Well-Read Moose Anniversary Celebration • Fri, June 4 at 6 pm • The Well-Read Moose • 2048 N. Main, Coeur d’Alene • wellreadmoose.com • 208-215-2265

VISUAL ARTS WALK WITH PRIDE

While restrictions on crowd size have the annual Spokane Pride Parade on pause for the time being, there are still ways to celebrate Pride Month with our LGBTQIA+ community. Start with the Spokane Queer Art Walk, a self-guided tour you can add to your First Friday festivities at exhibitions showcasing both local and national queer artists. Due to the pandemic, this year’s Queer Art Walk features a combination of in-person receptions, online viewings and window-gallery shows, so even if you can’t leave the house, you can take part. The participating venues include Dean Davis Studios (in person), Yes is a Feeling (gallery windows), Pavilion Art Space in Riverfront Park (in person), Kolva Sullivan Gallery (in person) and Trackside Studio Ceramic Art Gallery (in person). The Chase Gallery also continues its online show of Figure, an exhibition including several queer artists.

— DAN NAILEN