Annie Clark should have expected it to happen sooner or later. Her soulful voice and delicate French-pop arrangements on “Marry Me,” the title track from her sublime Beggars Banquet debut, easily translate the whispers of lovers, even when those nothings aren’t so sweet. When a fan e-mailed and asked if he could sing the song onstage with her in Boston to propose to his girlfriend, Clark could hardly say no, despite that song’s darker undertones.

“It was a mind-blowing moment, such an amazing thing to be a part of,” Clark says, from her home in Dallas. “The funny thing was, he had practiced ‘Marry Me’ and inserted his fiancée’s name, but he forgot that the line was bittersweet and says, ‘You won’t realize I’m gone.’ He sang the line and realized it was weird and the next time made the addendum and said, ‘You don’t realize I’ll never go.’ It was really sweet.

“And of course she said yes, or I guess it would be a really sad story.”

Clark is no stranger to surreal moments onstage. Grandiose and fantastic productions have characterized the 24-year-old songwriter’s career: She was a member of both the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens’ be-winged orchestra. Her solo work under the St. Vincent moniker is equally elaborate. Marry Me maneuvers through moments of electro-cabaret on “Paris Is Burning,” choruses of children on “Now Now,” and bursts of dramatic strings and disjointed piano on “Your Lips Are Red,” a smooth series of musical contortions swelling behind Clark’s transcendent soprano. A European flair manifests itself lyrically as well, the songs cut with wry humo(u)r, sophisticated allusion, and an intimately playful tone.

“That sort of French, mildly removed but romantic and insouciant attitude, I connect with that personally,” Clark reflects. “I like the implication of darkness without it being overt; I connect with that kind of subtlety.” – Doug Freeman