“He comes in with this absolute reckless spirit and just takes it to the edge”: St Vincent’s new single, Broken Man, features “three drummers”, and one of them is Dave Grohl

Turns out we didn’t have to wait long to hear one of Dave Grohl’s contributions to St Vincent’s new album, All Born Screaming, because he features on its lead single, Broken Man, which has just been released.

St Vincent, otherwise known as Annie Clark, recently revealed that Grohl is one of several contributors to the new record, with others including Welsh musician Cate Le Bon and new Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese. 

I needed to say, ‘I am physically moving electricity around, I’m playing with currents, I’m gonna be fucking Thor’

St Vincent

Discussing Broken Man, Clark told the NME: “There are essentially three drummers on the track: the first part is my programming, the second part Mark Guiliana comes in, and then at the very end of the track - just when you think it can’t get any higher - Grohl comes in with this absolute reckless spirit and just takes it to the edge.”

Having previously co-produced her albums, Clark has taken full control on All Born Screaming, and there’s a reason for that. “I needed to go places I hadn’t gone sonically before,” she explains. “I needed to understand sound - scientifically and also as intention. I needed to say, ‘I am physically moving electricity around, I’m playing with currents, I’m gonna be fucking Thor’. My fingerprints are on everything. I feel closer in a certain way, because it’s genuinely the inside of my head without any filter.”

All Born Screaming will be released on 26 April on Virgin Music/Fiction Records.

St Vincent

(Image credit: Alex Da Corte)
Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.