Supernatural, sensual, and now Spanish, St. Vincent has re-released her seventh studio album, All Born Screaming as a fully translated adaptation, Todos Nacen Gritando. Coming out less than seven months after the Grammy-nominated All Born Screaming, Todos Nacen Gritando arrived on November 15, 2024 via Total Pleasure Records in partnership with Virgin Music Group. With a long-standing connection to her Latin audience, St. Vincent wished to embark on the challenge of translating melodies and lyrics into a new language.
Todos Nacen Gritando was written with direct inspiration to Spanish Painter, Francisco Goya’s fourteen Black Paintings, and shares a similar ominous, heavy perspective. Vincent wrote the third track “Broken Man” looking into the perturbed eyes of Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. Much like the tragedy of a king who devoured his children, in an attempt to preserve power, the entire Todos Nacen Gritando album explores the duality of pride and power and the eventual downfall that comes with it.
Themes in this Todos Nacen Gritando float between a victim and the perpetrator, often switching between perspectives mid-track. For example, “El Infierno está Cerco” begins with soft moodiness and tired exaltations. As the song plays out, it builds up, finding its voice and strength. We then move into “Salvaje,” a theatrical ballad of destruction. Meanwhile, “Hombre Roto” and “Pulga” are both polysemous, we are at once seduced and disgruntled by the dual nature of power.
There is something ancient and mythological about the world that St. Vincent builds here. It reminds us of the Titans who ruled the earth before Mt. Olympus; giant and powerful, destroying everything in their path, not vengefully or intentionally, but instinctively, as is their nature. The Spanish language adds a dizzying, magical element that is more rhythmic and song-like than English. Furthermore, “Se Fue La Luz” carries a feeling through diverging tempos, instruments, and genres like an intoxicating spell.
Whether it is the album art, the inspiration, or the title, it is difficult not to listen to Todos Nacen Gritando as a story of a town in flames, Napoleon ravaging Spain in Goya’s time – political unrest. Needless to say with current events, this music strikes painful chords, but like Goya’s Black Paintings, art once again reflects the state of our being. All matters considered, Cryptic Rock gives Todos Nacen Gritando 4 out of 5 stars.
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