Artist: St. Vincent

Album: “Marry Me”

Release date: July 10, 2007

Label: Beggars Banquet

Availability: CD, iTunes

Annie Clark, 23-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who performs under the name St. Vincent, looks positively frazzled on the cover of her first album, “Marry Me.” And for good reason: She’s been hard at work on a stellar debut album.

Clark developed her chops while performing with the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, and has since taken her one-woman show on the road, opening for such acts as Midlake, John Vanderslice and the Arcade Fire.

Musically, “Marry Me” is all over the place. It’s best characterized as indie pop, but the production and Clark’s musicianship are so wonderfully diverse that the sound is hard to pin down. Album opener “Now, Now” showcases Clark’s guitar skill, with its complex harmonics and spastic guitar freak-out in the coda. Clark shifts through time signatures in the surf-guitar sound of “Human Racing.” Both the title track and “All My Stars Aligned” risk falling into the lull of a typical piano ballad, but shake that off with intriguing instrumentation and Clark’s ethereal background vocals.

The lyrics, too, are decidedly schizophrenic. In “Now, Now,” Clark’s self-exposing lyrics are juxtaposed with a children’s choir repeating, “You don’t mean that / Say you’re sorry.” In “Your Lips Are Red,” Clark takes a break from her venom-soaked lyrics to deliver a line that prompts more groans than praise: “Your skin’s so fair / Your skin’s so fair it’s not fair.” In fact, if the album has any shortcomings, it’s the occasionally cheesy lyrics.

The highlight of the album is unequivocally “Paris Is Burning,” a sizzling tune that reconstructs art deco style with modern instrumentation.

Despite some lyrical missteps, Annie Clark shows incredible promise as both a songwriter and a producer. “Marry Me” is easily a contender for best debut album of 2007. St. Vincent is one to watch out for.