Come Cut Me Open

St. Vincent “Surgeon”

“Surgeon” is maybe a strange way of introducing listeners to St. Vincent’s third album Strange Mercy. Though it provides a few eye-opening “wow moments,” particularly during the instrumental climax, it’s something of an outlier on the record. Most of the songs on Strange Mercy have a very active tone, with Clark singing from the perspective of characters who are almost oppressively extroverted – people who make eye contact with such forced assurance that their gaze could blow a hole through your face like Cyclops. “Surgeon” is more passive and sickly, with a fragile protagonist who begs for the “best, finest surgeon” to “come cut me open.” It’s an eerie, ambiguous piece that alternates between moments when the sounds seem to float in a perfect, serene balance and others when it falls into uncomfortable disarray. Clark’s climax isn’t quite cathartic, but she definitely makes it so you feel relieved when it’s over.

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