St. Vincent is an unlikely character. A Dallas native, St. Vincent’s singing delivery is dead-pan, like a ingenue Lou Reed with classical music training. She sings with composed grace as the fiery dramatics in her own music burn down the walls she hides behind; her heavy guitar riffs, the storm, her voice, the practical calm. On her third album, “Strange Mercy,” Annie Clark as St. Vincent further expounds on her special blend of maddening art-rock tunes.    

    “Surgeon” is the perfect introduction to the kind of growing intensity that makes “Strange Mercy” such an enrapturing album. The way it builds until its freak-out cadence is the most exhilarating guitar solo of the year. “Cruel” progresses with a jittery beat and a boisterously cheery guitar which shuffles ironically compared to the song’s endearing dark humor. “Northern Lights” emits a sporadic boldness, and “Dilettante” shimmers with a sedated funk. Elsewhere, the title track whispers a sort of spaced out gospel that only Clark could pull of with utmost believability.

    “Strange Mercy” is an album ripe with tension. Since her first album, 2007’s “Marry Me,” Annie Clark has played the role of bystander to her own music’s chaos. Walking this tight-rope of emotion, it’s difficult not to get caught up in her charming storm.