'SNL': St. Vincent Delights with a Dreamy, '70s Influenced Performance

Last night's Saturday Night Live featured some indie all-stars, with Judas and the Black Messiah actor and Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya serving as a particularly charming host and rockstar St. Vincent, real name Annie Clark, tearing up the stage as the musical guest. Clark's new album, Daddy's Home, drops on May 14, and she gave new and old fans alike a taste of the '70s tinged goodness to come. Clark's first performance was "Pay Your Way In Pain," bringing androgynous fashion realness with a serious set of pipes.

Clark announced the new album in December, her first since 2017's MASSEDUCTION. While longtime fans know St. Vincent for her avant-garde style, Daddy's Home brings some new flavor to her rock and roll. She told Stereogum in December that this album represented a "tectonic shift" in her craft. "I felt I had gone as far as I could possibly go with angularity," Clark explained. "I was interested in going back to the music I've listened to more than any other — Stevie Wonder records from the early '70s, Sly and the Family Stone. I studied at the feet of those masters."

She also cited "the color palette of the world of Taxi Driver" and "Gena Rowlands in a Cassavetes film" as aesthetic influences. "I just wanted to capture the colors, the film stock, and tell these stories of being down and out, down on your luck," Clark said. Jack Antonoff also produced the album, so prepare yourself for some next-level pop goodness.

Clark also revealed that the vibe of the album was inspired by taking home her father from prison, who went to jail in 2010 for stock crimes. "I didn't have any perspective on it," she told The Guardian. "It was just this horrible, festering wound." Clark admitted that this sentencing affected her 2011 Strange Mercy tour and how she approached it. "I don't have any regrets," she said. "But I was pretty blotto for a while there."

Her father was released two years ago, and she revealed that he's "thrilled" about the album. "In some ways, the roles have reversed — I feel like 'daddy' half the time, you know?" Clark explained. "He's a person, and every person has a lot of facets, and a lot of shit they've done wrong, and good qualities. So it just is."