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Annie Clark is so well-respected in the music industry, not only as one of the most innovative guitarists of her generation, but as a musician who Prince would pay to come and see perform, who would be invited to guest-guitar for the surviving members of Nirvana and who Taylor Swift would welcome to her stage. It comes then as a somewhat strange thought that 34-year-old Clark would be surprised, albeit a little uncomfortable, with the magnitude of attention that comes with extreme celebrity.

Speaking to The Guardian ahead of her new album release, Clark, of moniker St Vincent, talked about her relationship with Cara Delevingne and if in fact her new track, New York, is about the model. “Having seen certain levels of fame, having been, y’know, fame adjacent… That in and of itself seems very hectic to me,” she said. “If it’s a natural byproduct of doing what it is you love? Then great. But there are certain levels of fame that I’ve seen, just by proxy, that are unenviable.”

“I’ve always kept my writing close to the vest,” she continued. And by that I mean I’m always gonna write about my life. Sometimes, in the past, I did that way more obliquely than now. But it’s almost like an involuntary reflex. I can’t help but be living and also taking notes on what’s going on, always trying to figure out how to put that into a song. And that does not mean there’s literal truth in every lyric on the way. Of course not. But I can only write about my life, and that – dating Cara – was a big part of my life. I wouldn’t take it off-limits, just because my songs might get extra scrutiny. People would read into them what they would, and you know what? Whatever they thought they found there would be absolutely right. And at the same time it would be absolutely wrong.”

New York is out now.