Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 29
  2. Negative: 0 out of 29
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. 100
    It sounds – for the first time in a decade – like Clark has slipped out of her high heels and found an equal strength in this barefooted soul.
  2. May 13, 2021
    100
    It’s all hugely impressive and striking, the familiar made subtly unfamiliar, Clark’s famously incendiary guitar playing spinning off at unexpected and occasionally atonal tangents, its effect simultaneously heady and disturbing.
  3. May 13, 2021
    100
    On all fronts, with ‘Daddy’s Home’, St Vincent has delivered spectacularly.
  4. Mojo
    May 10, 2021
    100
    It's masterful stuff: a full conceptual realisation, filled with great melodies, deep grooves, colourful characterisations and sonic detail that reveals itself over repeated plays. ... A keeper for the decades to come. [Jun 2021, p.84]
  5. May 14, 2021
    92
    Maybe more on this album than others, because she’s turned down the volume — as much as you might miss something as thrilling as the “Pills”-popping of the previous album — it’s easier to hear the heart that’s long been there at the center of the slightly chilly guises.
  6. May 17, 2021
    90
    This is St. Vincent in the '20s and she is glorious. The production value is spectacular; her songwriting/production partnership with Jack Antonoff is more than paying off.
  7. May 12, 2021
    90
    Daddy’s Home may lack the more exhilarating, guitar-shredding moments of some of Clark’s earlier work, but it’s possibly her best, most considered album to date. Six albums into her career, St Vincent is arguably becoming the defining artist of her generation.
  8. 90
    Forget everything you thought you knew about St. Vincent, because this is Annie Clark 2.0, beamed in from an alternate reality, ready to blow your mind. Daddy’s home, and she’s sounding better than ever.
  9. May 21, 2021
    80
    Daddy's Home takes time to unfold in listeners' imaginations. It's much more of a mood than anything else in her body of work, but its hazy reconciliation of the good and bad of the past makes it as an uncompromising statement from her as ever.
  10. May 14, 2021
    80
    With a few exceptions, Daddy’s Home doesn’t have the show-stopping, what-just-happened hooks of other St. Vincent releases. Yet it is the most eclectic St. Vincent album, juxtaposing calm soul-searching acoustic ballads with funky dance grooves, frenetic claustrophobia with sprawling psychedelia, fuzzed-out guitar with clean finger-picking. It is a new style for St. Vincent but because of its attitude, humor, and off-kilter compositions, it still feels very St. Vincent.
  11. May 14, 2021
    80
    Daddy’s Home is further proof that St Vincent deserves to be considered in their [Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos] stellar ranks.
  12. May 13, 2021
    80
    If you want to think about grubby late mid-century New York, go and read Just Kids or something. If you want a high-production, catchy album that’s cheesy, fun, and occasionally a bit naff, buy Daddy’s Home.
  13. May 13, 2021
    80
    Daddy’s Home manages to reveal the most accessible music of [her] career.
  14. May 13, 2021
    80
    It’s difficult to say with any certainty how successful Clark’s first true venture into nostalgia has been—it is less likely to evolve in people’s estimations as her previous few records have—but there is a warmth and a general coziness that exists on this project, the likes of which she has never produced before.
  15. May 13, 2021
    80
    It’s a record about growing up, and playing it straight; a more open, rounded experience than we’ve come to expect from St. Vincent, it’s a brave, fascinating record.
  16. May 13, 2021
    80
    An impeccably produced album that deeply honors her arty influences and leaves room for complex and difficult lyrical themes that should please poptimists and indie kids alike.
  17. 80
    ‘Daddy’s Home’ is Clark’s most welcoming record yet, defined by an arch humour which also brings its listeners closer than ever, and filled with compassion for the characters who dwell within it.
  18. May 10, 2021
    80
    While Daddy's Home may not be her best record, it's a bold and rewarding one.
  19. May 10, 2021
    80
    The best moments on Daddy’s Home highlight those jagged borders and contradictions. Clark’s howling vocals and delightfully angular synths on “Pay Your Way in Pain” make it one of the strongest album openings of the year.
  20. Uncut
    May 10, 2021
    80
    Listening to Daddy's Home brings a sense of exhalation, a filling out, an openness, that is as unexpected as it is wonderful. [Jun 2021, p.20]
  21. May 10, 2021
    80
    It does nothing but enhance her reputation.
  22. May 10, 2021
    80
    It's sombre tracks like The Laughing Man where Clark carves deep into the family tree.
  23. May 12, 2021
    78
    Daddy’s Home brings us a far moodier, expansive work than predecessor MASSEDUCTION; it begs us to sit and listen, calling back to the slow-burn complexity of Strange Mercy.
  24. May 14, 2021
    77
    It’s a topsy-turvy balancing act that she’s playing, but for the most part it’s successful. Clark flips between that groovy funk of the 70s, then back to her guitar rock days, and then, sure, she employs some more experimental and electronic moments that might come across as jarring to some. But it’s also just part of the brand that is St. Vincent in 2021.
  25. May 13, 2021
    75
    This is a record in love with the bygone spirits it conjures, and even the sparsest tracks sound like they’ve been punctiliously determined. It’s an album that sounds like it wants to be messy, yet is anything but.
  26. May 19, 2021
    67
    It is her most personal record to date, telling the story of her father’s incarceration and her own fear of parenthood. It is delivered entirely in costume. The best and truest moments on Daddy’s Home are when Clark refuses to play wife or mother.
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 188 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 12 out of 188
  1. May 14, 2021
    10
    We finally found out who Daddy actually is. It's Annie herself, learning to deal with all kinds of situations on her own and taking control,We finally found out who Daddy actually is. It's Annie herself, learning to deal with all kinds of situations on her own and taking control, even when she'd rather probably let someone else deal with those little difficult periods that everyone has in life. Through the animated sound of the seventies she captures her emotions in a completely new manner. Even though some of the songs contain some very introspective themes she's never talked about before, it all comes out very chill and vibey. Full Review »
  2. May 14, 2021
    10
    probably the best album of this year. the production is on another level. everybody say thank u st. vincent
  3. May 14, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Annie do it again! An amazing cohesive album and probably her best album.
    At the holiday party es mind blowing
    Full Review »