Digital Witness

"Digital Witness" was released as an advance single from St. Vincent on 6 January 2014.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/53485-listen-st-vincent-digital-witness/ |first=Carrie |last=Battan |title=Listen: St. Vincent: 'Digital Witness' |publisher=Pitchfork |date=6 January 2014 |accessdate=3 February 2014}} The music video premiered on 31 January 2014.

Prior to its release, the single was available to pre-order on a die-cut vinyl triangle with "Birth in Reverse" as its B-side. The record was a limited edition of 1,000 copies, packaged with CD and LP copies of St. Vincent.{{cite web|url=http://slyvinyl.com/pop/st-vincent-st-vincent-limited-to-1000-golden-triangle-vinyl-lp-cd-or-black-vinyl-lp |first=Cameron |last=Hilliard |date=11 December 2013 |title=St. Vincent – St. Vincent // Limited to 1000 Golden Triangle Vinyl LP + CD or Black Vinyl LP |publisher=Sly Vinyl |accessdate=4 February 2015}}

Annie Clark has said that the song "encapsulates this idea where we've become very dependent on other people [...] a million digital eyes, validating our experience". The lyrics are a clear commentary on social media, including Clark's own experience on websites such as Twitter, which self-deprecatingly she describes as "pathetic". In an existential sense, the lyrics question how people evaluate what is and is not important in the digital age.{{cite interview|url=http://www.oystermag.com/watch-st-vincent-interview |first=Annie |last=Clark |title=Watch: St Vincent Interview |date=13 March 2014|publisher=Oyster|interviewer=Jerico Mandybur |accessdate=3 February 2015}}

Writing for Pitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph compared "Digital Witness" to "I Should Watch TV", a track from Love This Giant, Clark's 2013 collaboration with David Byrne; she concluded that Clark likely took a cue from Byrne in composing "Digital Witness". St. Asaph noted similarities between the funky rhythms and brass instruments in both tracks, as well as their shared lyrical themes. She calls "Digital Witness" "celebratory as it's cautionary", like "I Should Watch TV", which she describes as "half-embracing" and "half-disdaining" popular television culture.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/16470-st-vincent-digital-witness/ |publisher=Pitchfork |first=Katherine |last=St. Asaph |date=6 January 2014 |title=St. Vincent: "Digital Witness" |accessdate=3 February 2015}} Reviewer Heather Phares expressed a similar sentiment, calling "Digital Witness" a song with "close kinship" to Love This Giant.

"Digital Witness" received positive attention from music critics. Cady Drell, in a review for Rolling Stone, gave the song 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "the sound of an art-pop weirdo throwing a curveball by playing it delightfully straight".{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/digital-witness-20140110 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115192544/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/digital-witness-20140110 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 15, 2014 |first=Cady |last=Drell |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=10 January 2014 |title=Digital Witness |accessdate=3 February 2015}} Heather Phares, in an Allmusic review of St. Vincent, cited "Digital Witness" as an example of Clark's "razor-sharp wit". The track is designated as an Allmusic "pick".{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0002610375 |publisher=Allmusic |first=Heather |last=Phares |title=St. Vincent - St. Vincent |date=2014 |accessdate=3 February 2015}} It placed 14th on The Village Voice{{'}}s 2014 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/singles/2014/ |title=The Village Voice's 42nd Pazz & Jop Music Critics' Poll: The Last Word on the Year in Music |website=The Village Voice |access-date=15 February 2015}}

The music video for "Digital Witness" was directed by Chino Moya and was recorded in Madrid. The video is surreal in nature, featuring Annie Clark moving robotically, surrounded by pastel colors and geometric architecture. The style is reminiscent of the 1927 German epic film Metropolis.{{cite magazine|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/05/st-vincent-digital-witness-video/ |first=Melissa |last=Locker |magazine=Time |date=5 February 2014 |title=Music Video of the Week: St. Vincent, "Digital Witness" |access-date=3 February 2014}} Upon its release, the video was praised for its visual appeal and subtle critique of contemporary music videos.{{cite web|last=de Revere|first=Paul|title=St. Vincent Shares her Paranoia in 'Digital Witness' Video|date=31 January 2014|publisher=Radio.com|url=http://news.radio.com/2014/01/31/st-vincent-shares-her-paranoia-in-digital-witness-video/|accessdate=3 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222053654/http://news.radio.com/2014/01/31/st-vincent-shares-her-paranoia-in-digital-witness-video/|archive-date=22 February 2014|url-status=dead}} Writing for SPIN, Marc Hogan described the video as depicting "dystopian conformity" in conjunction with the song's lyrical commentary on social media.{{cite web|last=Hogan|first=Marc|title=Watch St. Vincent's Gloriously Coiffed 'Digital Witness' Dystopia|url=https://www.spin.com/2014/01/st-vincent-digital-witness-video/|publisher=SPIN|accessdate=31 January 2014}}

The music video was rated as the tenth-best video of 2014 by Rolling Stone.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/10-best-music-videos-of-2014-20141229/st-vincent-digital-witness-20141222 |publisher=Rolling Stone |title=10 Best Music Videos of 2014 |date=2014 |accessdate=3 February 2015}}

Darkside produced a remix of "Digital Witness", which was released on March 30, 2014. The remix pitch shifts Clark's vocal into a lower range. Although Darkside preserved the song's prominent saxophone, it was mixed down in favor of a bass synthesizer that they introduced. The remix was released as a 12" vinyl single, with the a cappella track from "Digital Witness" as its B-side.{{cite web|url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/03/listen-darkside-remixes-st-vincents-digital-witness/ |publisher=Consequence of Sound |first=Chris |last=Coplan |date=30 March 2014 |title=Listen: Darkside remixes St. Vincent's "Digital Witness" |accessdate=3 February 2015}} The track is also included with the deluxe edition of St. Vincent, which was released in February 2015.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/58008-st-vincent-announces-st-vincent-deluxe-edition-expands-tour/ |publisher=Pitchfork |first=Jeremy |last=Gordon |date=9 January 2015 |title=St. Vincent Announces St. Vincent Deluxe Edition, Expands Tour |accessdate=3 February 2015}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side A

| title1 = Digital Witness

| length1 = 3:22

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side B

| title1 = Del Rio

| length1 = 2:55

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side A

| title1 = Digital Witness

| length1 = 3:22

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side B

| title1 = Birth in Reverse

| length1 = 3:15

}}

• Annie Clark – songwriting, vocals, guitar
• Homer Steinweiss – drums
• Ralph Carney – horns

Technical personnel

• John Congleton – engineering
• Greg Calbi – mastering

{{reflist}}

{{St. Vincent}}

{{authority control}}

Category:2014 songs

Category:2014 singles

Category:Republic Records singles

Category:St. Vincent (musician) songs

Category:Songs written by St. Vincent (musician)

Category:Song recordings produced by John Congleton