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Some celebrities seem to coast by the seat of their pants, but St. Vincent is not one of them. She performed one song a hundred times in the studio to get it just right. The song’s lyrics are hard to understand, but that’s what makes it beautiful.

St. Vincent decided to use less guitar on ‘All Born Screaming’

During a 2024 interview with Paper, St. Vincent discussed her song “Hell Is Near” from All Born Screaming. “That was one where I wrote and rewrote the lyrics,” she said. “That was a song that if I didn’t bow before it, it just wouldn’t happen. I sang it 100 times. The chorus is bare … and I have to actually be there to sing it and for it to be real and not throw a bunch of ego or bulls***,” she says, before mimicking singing the word ‘bare’ with multiple vocal runs. ‘Just the emotion and the melody … don’t get in the way, don’t get in the way.'”

St. Vincent recalled her approach to All Born Screaming. “You’ve got to keep those things in check,” she said. “Not every song needs guitar. And the part of me that’s like, ‘Well, I’m a guitar player always in my head, you would not do the best thing for the song.’ You got to do the best thing for the song.”

St. Vincent sounds like 1 of the best bands of the 19960s and 1970s

True to her intentions, “Hell Is Near” does not make much noticeable use of the guitar for much of its runtime. When the guitar does come in, though, it sounds like a folkier Led Zeppelin song. St. Vincent truly knows when to make use of her signature instrument.

It’s mostly notable for the beauty of St. Vincent’s voice. She chose a good stage name, for she sounds like the ghost of a Catholic saint who died tragically. While many aspects of St. Vincent’s music are admirable, her voice alone would be able to gain her a fan base. 

The lyrics of “Hell Is Near” are a little oblique. However, that’s the beauty of the track. It’s one of those songs you’ll want to revisit again and again to see what secrets it has in store for you. The tune’s otherworldly sonic texture serves as a siren call to its esoteric undercurrents.

How the world reacted to ‘All Born Screaming’

All Born Screaming reached No. 86 on the Billboard 200 for a single week. St. Vincent was never a superstar on the level of Taylor Swift or The Beatles, or even a mid-tier star on the level of Nelly Furtado or Camila Cabello. Nobody expected All Born Screaming to become a massive hit, but it could have done a lot better.

So how did the singles from the album do? So far, All Born Screaming has given the world three singles. They are “Broken Man,” “Flea,” and “Big Time Nothing.” None of those songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100. St. Vincent has spent years building up momentum and garnering critical acclaim. She should have had one solo pop hit by now.

All Born Screaming is a carefully crafted album even if it didn’t get much love from the public at large.

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