Suzanne Vega: Beauty and Crime
Vega's seventh album is her first on new label Blue Note Records
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Sunday, 10, Jun 2007 05:50
Blue Note Records, out now.
In a nutshell.
Mellow. Deep. Inoffensive. Narrative. Haunting.
What's it all about?
Vega's seventh album, and her first on new label Blue Note Records, is a tribute to the beauty and filth of New York.
Some of the material has been performed live since the release of her last studio album, Songs in Red and Grey, in 2001. An introspective album, it featured introspective material dealing with Vega's divorce.
A&M Records dropped Vega after this album failed to reach the commercial success of previous releases such as Luka and Tom's Diner of the late 80s.
Since then, she has performed live, remarried, released the successful best-of compilation Retrospective and became the first artist to perform in online world Second Life.
Last year she signed with Blue Note Records and this is the first album on the label.
As an example.
"New York is a woman, she'll make you cry/ And to her you're just another guy... She's happy that you're here, but when you disappear/ She won't know that you've gone to say goodbye"
Who's it by
California-born Suzanne Vega grew up in New York City and started writing and creating songs since before hitting her teens.
She was a student at the prestigious Fiorello H La Guardia High School of Music and Performing Arts in the city during the 70s.
As an English literature student she performed in Greenwich Village and was signed in 1984, releasing her debut album Suzanne Vega in 1985.
But it was her second album, Solitude Standing, which featured Luka, that was praised by critics and fans alike.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Possible but not likely. This album will have more success than Vega's efforts of the 90s, but is unlikely to reach the heights she saw in the late 80s.
What the others say
"The ingenue of Tom's Diner has grown up and gained a whole lot of sophistication along the way." - High Heels on Blog Critics
"It's a record likely to delight the hardcore faithful, as it's full of decent songs - nothing too wet, nothing too 'out there'." - Daniel Whelan on New-Noise.net
So is it any good?
While none of the 11 songs on Beauty and Crime seem to have a Luka pop element to them, the album as a whole has some edge.
Vega comes across as a grown-up Dido (whose orchestral arranger Will Malone also collaborated on this album) in some of the songs on Beauty and Crime, but without the obvious blandness.
Never one to shy away from commenting on society, Vega explores post-9/11 New York in this tribute to the city where she grew up and still lives in an honest way.
The listener is taken on a journey through the Lower East Side when she discusses the ghosts of Ludlow Street to West End Avenue, where Vega recounts a conversation with graffiti artist Zephyr.
And after more than two decades in the industry, Vega's music still has the eccentric yet pop sound to please the critics and the masses.
Overall, Beauty and Crime, delivered in Vega's words and voice, is certainly more beauty than crime.
6 /10
Karen Moller