6, 13 St. Vincent Cheerleader + Prince Johnny The National, Richmond, VA 6, 03, 15

It starts with the creation myth: St. Vincent, naked and alone in the wilderness, startled as the ominous rattle of a snake breaks the silence of her Eden. She realizes she s not alone in the world and breaks into a run, headed towards the uncertainty of the future. It s a lovely and appropriate metaphor to open St. Vincent s selftitled fourth album, except that it literally happened. It s not a metaphor at all, St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, says of the album s lead track, While visiting