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Suzanne Vega - Beauty and Crime (Blue Note)

We figured we'd see it sometime... Suzanne Vega has delivered her "New York City album", a collection of 11 tunes that revolve around life in "The Big Apple" where Vega was raised and has lived ever since. It's not a new idea. Lots of artists (Lou Reed, for example on his 1989 New York album) have used this muse before. Vega has done it with a tremendous amount of style, and her first new release in six years is clearly one of her best.

She really is a master of the narrative tune, and songs like "Ludlow Street" and "Zephyr & I" continue that history. Sonically, it's a cross between 99.9 F Degrees and Solitude Standing. There's plenty of cool, beat style vocals (her trademark) driven by the acoustic guitar, but some of the tunes feature some very effective and well-thought-out beats and synth runs. She also manages to successfully write about where she is today... as a wife on "Bound" and as a mother on the extremely lovely "As You Are Now".

It's been a rewarding career for us fans so far, and Suzanne Vega has once again delivered. Make sure you catch her as she plays the closing set at our XPoNential Music Festival presented by Subaru this weekend! She's due to hit the stage this Sunday night July 22nd around 8 PM. Check out the details elsewhere on our website.

Review written by Dan Reed

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