Music Notes: Suzanne Vega, Beauty & Crime

October 9th, 2007

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A long time Suzanne Vega fan, I’ve been letting Beauty & Crime steep to where I could write about it objectively and not from that “This is the first album in years! It’s wonderful!” perspective.

After endless repeats and within the context of her previous work on my iPod, I feel there is much that’s genuinely wonderful. Much of the saddening sterility of the previous “divorce” album, Songs In Red And Grey, is absent, replaced with tasteful, polished production, often perfect. Lyrically, it’s magnificent - it sounds as if Vega has almost too much to say these days.

But there are definite flaws - overall I don’t find the material as directly appealing as her earlier work - a large part of me still worships the minimalism of Those Whole Girls or the perfectly formed melodies that needed no backing. As a result I feel the better material (as usual) is stacked at the beginning.

Still, there’s much to enjoy. The album’s smartest conceit is the over-arching subject of New York, where Vega has lived most of her life. Zepher & I tackles the childhood neighborhood, Ludlow Street a particular location with particular memories, and Angel’s Doorway contemplates the uncontemplateable of 9/11. From uptown to downtown the album escorts us through different moods and styles, but a definite move toward light jazz (play the Plush Room soon?). Original bassist Mike Visceglia and KT Tunstall lend ever-tasteful support.

I’d say the first four songs are stellar, with the addition of Unbound and possibly Anniversary - the result a disc that finds a place among the rest of her work.

Zephyr & I

= 5 stars

The choppy rhythm and smooth as glass background vocals create the best song I’ve heard from Vega in the past decade. It recalls the cleaner sound of the first two albums but looks plesantly forward. One simple bass sound (1:02) recalls Lou Reed’s Walk On the Wild Side.

Ludlow Street

= 4 stars

The percussion is breathy and churning - note the bass line that dips in and out like an undertow, specifically on the bridge where Vega’s voice stays on one note while chords change beneath (1:41).

New York Is A Woman

= 5 stars

The piano and odd third chord with the brass band set this as an Elvis Costello outtake from Spike. A newcomer journeys to Manhattan for the first time and finds things to love and hate. Despite the light jazz feel, there’s some similarity to a basic folk song like The Queen And The Soldier.

Pornographer’s Dream

= 5 stars

Hints of other songs fuel this dusky, jazzy diversion - from Thin Man, Caramel, to Iron Bound Poultry and even In Liverpool, but something new. But the melody is more complex and syncopated than usual, as she reaches for high notes once avoided (1:24). One perfect moment for me is the toned drum that adds two cute stabs (0:46) at the end of each verse.

Frank & Ava

= 3 stars

Decent track but the chanting chorus reminds of Liz Phair or Juliana Hatfield - artists I both like but I’ve always seen Vega as a bit above that sort of pop pandering. The song documents the passionate but tumultuous romance of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.

Edith Wharton’s Figurines

= 3 stars

Recalling early folk roots, pleasant enough but leaving me a little wanting now knowing where she’s at now. The death bed contemplation is more lyrically mature than Fifty-Fifty Chance, and the figurines revisits the monitoring theme of Marlene on the Wall.

Bound

= 2 stars

Not into this one. I think I just don’t care for the melody of the chorus, which feels not as compelling as the musical treatment seems to think it is. Production-wise, it recalls Songs In Red And Gray.

Unbound

= 4 stars

The jumpy but definite groove fits into that electronica experimentation of 99.9F speckled with acoustic guitar bites and keyboard chirps. It’s plant cultivation as a metaphor for a living being achieving freedom.

As You Are Now

= 2 stars

A simple acoustic song, reminiscent of the album Days of Open Hand. I don’t care for the marching band type drums and the string treatment - a discussion of Vega’s daughter growing older and the parent’s urge to support the child throughout life (an interesting contrast to Bad Wisdom which empathizes more a daughter’s perspective). The production on the first few albums might have been more appropriate here.

Angel’s Doorway

= 3 stars

The subject matter seems inspired by 9/11 - not naming the event itself but from a survivor returning home from a scene of something unspeakable.

Anniversary

= 4 stars

For some reason the background vocals over this mostly descending chord progression move this song up a few notches for me. The beat is a slower, shuffle, nearly a mellow jazz feel. Each year we grow older and most likely don’t achieve all we set out to do, but life moves relentlessly forward. The chords behind the bridge (1:27) and the way the accompaniment drops out leaving only Vega and guitar (2:03) are sublime pleasure that I could spend about a day contemplating - leading to the lateness of this review.

Wikipedia: Beauty & Crime

Intra-Album Rank-O-Rama: 3.63

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