[14] Clark arrived in Seattle in October 2010, stayed at the Ace Hotel and used a studio provided by Jason McGerr.

So I went out to Seattle for a month and rented a studio from my friends in Death Cab for Cutie and just worked there twelve hours a day.

I've always written at home, so it was nice to just go elsewhere; to have a separate space in order to be creative; and also to learn how to turn on the faucet and not judge what's coming out… I'm always just following my ears.

[19] In July 2011, Clark announced that a track from Strange Mercy would be unlocked when enough Twitter users tweeted the hashtag "#strangemercy".

[12][25] "Chloe in the Afternoon", the album's opener, explores Clark's misgivings about monogamy, particularly the societal pressures on and assumptions about human relationships.

Clark found that line to be "brilliant and really strange", saying "And I was – I put, you know, inspiration from my own life for various situational depression or what – call it what you will.

[8] Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal gave the album a "Best New Music" designation, writing "Here, Clark's role-playing is grounded in emotions that are as cryptic as they are genuine and affecting.

"[35] Drowned in Sound's Sean Adams also gave the album a positive review, writing, "Don't be fooled by them saucer-like bambi eyes[...] or her tip-top indie-rock-positioning system[...] because this is an album that rockets toward you, ricochets through your emotions and finally decides to lay you down on the floor, headphones on, tumbling around like a blissed-out cat in the sun.

"[37] Spin's Stacey Anderson called Strange Mercy St. Vincent's "most mercurial [album] yet", continuing: "Clark's complex femininity, both self-possessed and keenly evolving, is what makes her music so powerful and fascinating.

"[3] Q also gave the album a positive review, writing: "Combining elegance and menace expertly, Clark's vocals drift languidly amid swimmy guitars, siren-like choirs and strings, while lyrical undercurrents of anger, hysteria and black humour tug beneath the surface.

Like peers such as Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors, Clark creates challenging music that doesn't go over your head even though you realize there's more going on with it than you can wrap your mind around.

"[2] In a more mixed review, BBC Music's Wyndham Wallace called Strange Mercy "a little underwhelming", writing that there was a lack of standout tracks.

Wallace continued: "[...] ultimately Strange Mercy sounds like her best record still lies ahead, once she feels a little more at ease with balancing her obviously multiple talents.

[40] The same website also called the track "Cruel" the 13th best song of 2011, writing "The simple lyrics about how hurtful and painful the pressure of looks can have on a person are accompanied by a Talking Heads-like progression.

11 on its list of the Top 50 Albums of 2011, with Stephen Deusner writing: "Strange Mercy is always on its toes, always toying with some new idea, always building toward the oddly satisfying payoff.

The song might be a narrative or an uncomfortable explication of the life of an indie rock artist, and the ambiguity, not to mention the ambivalence, stings.