St Vincent tells us about her Spanish-language album ‘Todos Nacen Gritando’: “It was a beautiful exercise”
St Vincent has shared new single 'El Mero Cero' and spoken to NME about translating her latest album ' All Born Screaming ' into Spanish, being inspired by art, and if she might be getting even heavier on her next record.
The Tulsa-born artist released 'All Born Screaming' back April – with NME hailing the record as "pure, unfiltered Annie Clark" for its heavier sound and unflinching lyrics inspired by the blood-curdling Black Paintings by Spanish Romantic painter Francisco Goya.
NME met Clark in London, where she flicked through a book on Goya's Black Paintings, considering how they shaped the songs on 'All Born Screaming'. "The look in his eyes," she said, her fingers tracing the harrowing image of Saturn Devouring His Son. "That would be 'Broken Man'."
Clark has translated the entirety of 'All Born Screaming' into her Spanish-language debut 'Todos Nacen Gritando' – due for release this week, and previewed today by a new version of 'Big Time Nothing', 'El Mero Cero'.
"Thematically, this was the right record to [translate]," she said. "This record is essentially about life and death and love. There's a lot of iconography. It's very Catholic, very sacred."
She said she was uncertain if 'Todos Nacen Gritando' brought her closer to the Spanish Romantic artist who inspired the album, but she does know it was a way to "selfishly get better at Spanish" while also connecting with her Latin fans. "It's amazing that people can sing my songs back to me in perfect English," she told NME. "Why can't I meet them halfway in their language?"
In the process, Clark said discovered her songs shifting and opening up in ways she never expected. "I found the process of translation really enjoyable," she recalled.
Read our full interview with Clark below, where she talked about Latin American fans, the joys and frustrations of the translation process, doing the unexpected, and where she's going from here.
NME: Hi Annie! You're about to release your first Spanish-language album. What made you want to translate 'All Born Screaming' in its entirety?
Annie Clark: "It was always the plan [to translate the whole record]. But you ask why, and I'd ask the same question of myself! It was a beautiful exercise and an attempt to offer a little thanks to Spanish-language fans who have met me in my native tongue for seven records."
Did you listen to much Spanish-speaking music growing up?
"I listened to Selena, and there's a lot of Tejano music in Texas that I heard growing up. [Later] I started getting into Cuco, Bomba Estereo, Rosalía ... [Spanish-language music] is so culturally rich that I could name musicians forever."
Was there an on-stage moment that sparked this intention to give back to your Spanish-speaking fans?
"A few! I'd say playing [South America's] Lollapalooza 2018; and just feeling those crowds! I've been to Mexico a few times, there's a sort of real passion that people have for music. Of course, they have it in other countries, but there's just so much heart in my shows in Mexico and South America."
Many non-Latin artists don't tour South America frequently — it's exciting for fans to see someone they've waited so long to see. It's cool you feel that energy onstage.
"It was also a way for me to go to places that I really love, like South America. A big reason why people don't make it that far south is because it's so expensive to get down there. The way to make it feasible is to get on a big festival. I love being in these places. So [this album] is a humble offering. I know I don't sound like a native speaker. Songs are wild to translate.
In the 90s, the Colombian author Gael Garcia Marquez wrote a tribute to his friend Shakira. He speaks of her "arduous preparations" to translate one of her Spanish albums into English. She had trouble sleeping and was "feverish" from the pressure. Can you relate to that sense of frustration?
"Absolutely! Whether it was trying to get the pronunciation right or thinking, 'I know what the cadence of the English version is, but the way to say it in Spanish I'll have to change the melody'. In the case of Shakira, was she doing the same thing as trying to translate an album?"
She was trying to translate 'Donde Están Las Ladrones', but decided to start from scratch in English instead, resulting in 'Laundry Service', her 2001 English-language debut. Translation was too difficult!
"Yeah. There were certainly moments. It was the hardest thing. It's not that I thought it wouldn't be, but I got three songs in and was like, 'Oh, shit, I need to fine-comb all these translations and have this kind of open dialogue with Alan [del Rio, a friend who helped her translate] all the time'. 'Reckless' has a lot of words and it's not exactly melodic. That was definitely difficult; [especially] the ones with a lot of words. Though 'Mero Cero' ['Big Time Nothing'] was OK, it's kind of spoken so the flow was correct."
There are so many dialects in Spanish and so much slang...Which Spanish did you use?
"Idiomatically, the album is more Mexican. For example, Mero is like slang for 'boss'."
How did you overcome those words or phrases that couldn't be translated?
"As a songwriter, the song can have the best groove, the production can be so cool, singing is great. But if there's one lyric that's corny and it's like 'I'm out'. I can't suspend my disbelief. I'm like, 'Ugh, I was almost there'. I'm always like, 'That was a little trite', or 'That's a cliche, they shouldn't have said that'. This happens in English.
"Whereas when I'm listening to songs in Spanish, I don't have the same scrutiny. I'm just enjoying music. It's such a portal to joy for me – to enjoy it and react to the sound."
Were there any instances that translation changed your perspective on the song?
"The song 'Reckless' became 'Salvaje'. I couldn't find a word for reckless. Alan said, well, what about 'salvaje'? OK... savage.
"Now all of a sudden this song about grief and loss is repeating the word savage, like 'Life is savage'. It changed the meaning of the song for me in a very deep way. It was heavy and cool."
This album is partly inspired by Goya's Dark Paintings and you've just played a set in El Prado Museum in Madrid, which houses the paintings. How was that?
"The energy of that particular room is fucking heavy. It gets colder in that room. I was a little scared to be honest, to be in the presence of that greatness. These were not paintings that he wanted people to see. He had these in his home, towards the end of his life. He was wrestling till the end; as we all do."
'All Born Screaming' / 'Todos Nacen Gritando' is your most rock record to date, with your live show packed with guitar solos and stage diving...
"Yes! Though in the Royal Albert Hall they wouldn't let me stage dive without a hefty fine. I've got sicker waves in other shows."
Will your next album veer towards even heavier rock? You are a big Tool and Nine Inch Nails fan...
"The answer is I have no idea. Like, maybe?"
Well, making a Spanish album is so unexpected. We really cannot predict where you'll go next...
"You always think, 'OK, the next thing I do will be the best thing I do'. I have to have to keep going. It has to get deeper. More human, more emotional, better songs. That's my optimism right there."
Finally: what's your level on Duolingo?
"Oh, I don't know! How do you count the levels?"
Well, what tense are you on?
"Oh, the fucking tenses! The tenses really get me. I could talk about most things that are currently happening, but I really struggle with saying anything that happened in the past!
"It's a completely different part of memory and mnemonic devices to sing something. That's why we have the alphabet song. We remember when it's music, but talking to someone in Spanish, that's entirely different. But, baby steps. I can sing all my Spanish-translated songs now from memory whereas if I were trying to have a casual chit, I have to really think about the words.
"I'm sure once I'm fluent in Spanish, I'll look back at this [record] and go, 'Oh, I could have pronounced that better. I could have translated that a little better'."
Perhaps we should expect a perfectly-pronounced Spanish-language metal album next?
"Ha! Yeah!"
