Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Rock | Heft: Jahrgang 2014, eclipsed Nr. 157 / 2-2014 | VÖ-Jahr: 2014 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Cooking Vinyl | Autor: SaS
Over the last few years, Suzanne Vega has been mainly concerned with processing her back catalogue. She arranged her pieces according to themes - love, family, people, places - and published a CD for each of them. They were quiet, acoustic versions of their songs, which, especially in the case of the electronic albums produced by ex-husband Mitchell Froom, revealed entirely new aspects. Only this step made it possible to work on new songs, according to the artist. The first songs since the 2007 album "Beauty & Crime". And although the complex title already suggests that the New York songwriter has set her sights high for her first completely new studio work in seven years (her second since the "Songs Of Red And Grey" released in 2001), she has changed very little. Like their two predecessors, they accompany Mike Visceglia on bass and Doug Yowell on drums. These are joined by illustrious names such as Tony Levin or the Bowie confidante Gail Ann Dorsey. And the songs also sound as you would expect from Suzanne Vega: romantic everyday observations sung with a crystal clear voice, which sometimes lead to metaphysical reflections, but sometimes also reveal Vega's fine sense of humour - just note the "I Never Wear White" oscillating between silliness and deep wisdom. And still: Although you think you've heard these pieces before, Suzanne Vega might succeed in bundling her strengths for the first time. While she was a folk elf on her debut, "Days Of Open Hand" was a flawless pop album, "99.9F°" an electronic experiment and "Beauty And Crime" a mixture of folk and swing. Their records also seemed to explore new musical areas. On "Tales From The Realm", however, she sounds as if she has come home with all these experiences and has put everything she learned in this time into it.
Top Track: Portrait Of The Knight Of Wands
