Annie Clark’s interview on The Colbert Report last night, which you can watch above, starts with Stephen asking whether to call her St. Vincent or Annie. Or “Vinnie” — it turns out all are fine. The chat ends with Clark raising the mind-expanding possibility that Colbert himself might, get this, not be presenting his true self on TV (!!!). In between, the two race to name their many siblings while Colbert helps cut through the intellectual framework of Essential new album St. Vincent by comparing her hair to Albert Einstein’s and asking questions like, “You’re something of an art rocker — can I enjoy your music or do I have to get it?” When she talks about trying to “live at the intersection between accessibility and lunatic fringe,” he says, “That’s the corner of Paxil and Prozac.” At her use of the phrase “techno shamanism,” he expresses incomprehension. Colbert’s a pretty clever guy, though, so Clark — we’re sorry, Vinnie — might have a point about that whole “we perform ourselves in a myriad of ways” thing, after all.
Watch her, ahem, perform “Digital Witness” and, as an online exclusive, “Birth in Reverse,” below.
