St Vincent review: Annie Clark is breathtakingly audacious at Brixton Academy in London

In with the old and out with the new is the approach St Vincent seems to take at her sold-out Brixton Academy show.

Opening without frills or fuss she sings the tremorous first words of the title track from 2007’s Marry Me, standing alone on the huge, sparse stage in a pink patent bodysuit and towering, thigh-level pink boots.

The lights drop after “Cheerleader” off Strange Mercy before a spotlight shows the artist born Annie Clark singing about the lost boy from the floor, curled in a half-foetal position.

On the funk-driven “Digital Witness” she is imperious and at times robotic as she leans over the guitar, mesmerising as she shreds on her custom design.

St Vincent’s new album MASSEDUCTION is new pop art: the bold block colours and the dynamics on this record are phenomenal, her songwriting is intelligent and the touches on production from Jack Antonoff arguably make it one of the best pop records of the year.

Yet tonight it becomes more obvious by the second that the entire show will be her and her alone onstage - no band, just a backing track. The sheer audacity of the move is breathtaking, and more than a few mutterings are heard around the crowd - a few people turn and leave at “New York” as she sings that eternal line: “You’re the only motherfucker in this city who can handle me.”

She stands alone, imperious and at times robotic as she leans over the guitar, mesmerising as she shreds on her custom design. Clark has described touring as a bloodsport and perhaps she still sees it that way, self-flagellating on stage with no one else next to her.

It may not be for everyone, but if you stay to the end - as she closes on the exquisitely haunting “Smoking Section”, the final track on MASSEDUCTION - it stays with you.