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M U S I C
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Beauty & Crime
A look at Suzanne Vega's lastest work
Six years is a long time to wait in the face of the ever fickle pop game, but for some it's clear that such time is necessary to condense the experiences of a life into song and allow those experiences to color their compositions. Suzanne Vega's latest album, Beauty & Crime is one such work. Filled with the trademark wordplay and love of language and melody that has been a hallmark of her career as one of America's most gifted songwriters, the album has been a long time coming for fans that have anxiously awaited Vega's return following her previous effort, 2001's Songs in Red & Gray. While her last album concerned itself with feelings of love lost and melancholy, Beauty & Crime finds Vega at her most sensual and honest in years.
Vega's ability to channel the human condition through song and weave narrative through her poetry in motion is expressed with clarity and nuance on Beauty. Every song seems to stem from a personal, emotional place within her and such sentiment resonates throughout. Take what is perhaps the most personal track on the album, Ludlow Street, which begins, "Love is the only thing that matters/Love is the only thing that's real/I Know we hear this everyday/It's still the hardest thing to feel." It's not so much that she is painting a directly autobiographical portrait of her life with these songs, but rather capturing the essence of an emotional state and realizing it through words and music in a fashion that only she can muster.
Accompanied by a surprisingly diverse line up of additional backing talent, ranging from British sensation KT Tunstall to Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo the musicianship on display in Beauty & Crime showcases Vega's most distinguished collective studio support yet. Lush production by Jimmy Hogarth abounds on Ludlow Street and Zephyr & I, creating near psychedelic experiences in sound. It's important to note that while she is joined by far more coconspirators on this work than almost any other in her cannon, Vega's unique sound and creative vision manages to shroud the body of Beauty & Crime, while giving the necessary room to allow the talents of others breathe and add flavor to the work.
Meticulously crafted and brilliantly executed, Suzanne Vega's Beauty & Crime is a welcome addition to a stellar catalog and a fine return to form for one of our most imaginative songwriters.