LOVER, BELOVED: SONGS FROM AN EVENING WITH CARSON MCCULLERS
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - October 14, 2016
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers is the album based on Suzanne Vega’s play about the enigmatic author Carson McCullers, featuring original songs sung by Ms. Vega, and written by Suzanne Vega and Tony-winning composer Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening, American Psycho.)
In the play, Suzanne Vega performs the role of the iconic author Carson McCullers in which she talks and reminisces about her life, her loves, and her art. While trying to explain herself, McCullers must wrestle with the demons that have intruded on her from the beginning of her life. Seamlessly moving between spoken word and song, Ms. Vega channels the resilient spirit and unrelenting humor of Ms. McCullers in a way that reveals the meeting of two souls in a single work of art. Featuring the of songs by Ms. Vega, and Duncan Sheik, Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers is a musical portrait to one of the most important figures in American literature.
TALES FROM THE REALM OF THE QUEEN OF PENTACLES
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - February 18, 2014
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
2014 release, the first studio album of new material in seven years from the singer/songwriter. Tales From The Realm… features 10 new songs, each telling a story that has to do with the material world and the world of the spirit and how they intersect. Suzanne spent a few years writing and recording these gems on the road, recording portions in Chicago, London, Prague, LA, and New York City, and Kyserike Station, an old train station in upstate New York. Tracking for the album took place mostly at the Clubhouse Studios in Rhinebeck, and the album was mixed by Kevin Killen, who has worked with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.
Close-Up, Vol. 4, Songs of Family
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - October 9, 2012
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
In 1985, singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega released her stunning self-titled debut album. Thirty-five years and more than seven million albums later, Suzanne is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. In 2010, she reinterpreted a majority of her catalog in an intimate and personal manner, creating four new thematic albums that would be released over the following two years.
Vol. 4, Songs of Family is the final volume of Suzanne’s Close-Up series. Vol. 4 is comprised of songs about Suzanne’s family and the people closest to her. These are some of Suzanne’s most intimate works and this collection includes two of her earliest compositions. ‘The Silver Lady’ is one of the first songs Suzanne ever wrote, when she was just 14 years old.
Close-Up, Vol. 3, States of Being
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - November 1, 2011
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
In 1985, singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega released her stunning self-titled debut album. Thirty-five years and more than seven million albums later, Suzanne is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. In 2010, she reinterpreted a majority of her catalog in an intimate and personal manner, creating four new thematic albums that would be released over the following two years.
Vol. 3, States of Being has Suzanne revisiting her most haunting songs. Suzanne used to call these the “Mental Health” songs. They express a state of mind, but also more than that; Suzanne says, “they are descriptions of a place deep inside. Anyone can feel like the narrator in Penitent, or Cracking, depending on your mood.” Vol. 3 also includes a brand new song, a collaboration with Duncan Sheik from Suzanne’s upcoming play, “Carson McCullers Talks About Love.”
Close-Up, Vol. 2, People & places
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - October 12, 2010
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
In 1985, singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega released her stunning self-titled debut album. Thirty-five years and more than seven million albums later, Suzanne is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. In 2010, she reinterpreted a majority of her catalog in an intimate and personal manner, creating four new thematic albums that would be released over the following two years.
Vol.2, People & Places features some of Suzanne s biggest hits and most beloved songs, in an intimate way never before heard. Vol.2 features new acoustic recordings of Luka, Tom's Diner, Queen and the Soldier, and a new song written with Mark Linkous and Dangermouse, The Man Who Played God.
Close-Up, Vol. 1, Love Songs
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - February 2, 2010
Label - Amanuensis Productions
ABOUT THE ALBUM
In 1985, singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega released her stunning self-titled debut album. Thirty-five years and more than seven million albums later, Suzanne is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. In 2010, she reinterpreted a majority of her catalog in an intimate and personal manner, creating four new thematic albums that would be released over the following two years. The first is Suzanne Vega Close Up, Vol. 1: Love Songs, which includes stripped-down versions of her influential hit song “Marlene On The Wall,” the bossa nova favorite “Caramel,” and many more.
Beauty & Crime
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - July 17, 2007
Label - Blue Note Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
On Beauty & Crime, Suzanne Vega’s Blue Note Records debut, the Manhattan native uses New York City as the backdrop for a collection of eleven new songs that juxtapose acoustic guitar-driven melodies with coolly synthesized beats; intensely personal lyrics with compelling, short story-like narratives; images of today’s scarred cityscape with memories of Vega’s old Upper West Side ‘hood and Lower East Side haunts.
RETROSPECTIVE: THE BEST OF SUZANNE VEGA
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - April 22, 2003
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
This incredible 21-track Best of collection is a highlighted version of Suzanne’s diverse and continually developing career as a singer/song-writer. With a generous selection of material spanning all of Suzanne’s releases, Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega also includes the very popular “Left of Centre”, which was previously available exclusively on the soundtrack for the movie “Pretty in Pink”.
SONGS IN RED AND GRAY
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - September 25, 2001
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Suzanne Vega remains one of the most relentlessly, mercilessly tasteful recording artists alive. Every note on Songs in Red and Gray has been arranged with the meticulous precision of a butler laying silver on a table. Every sound is so polished and buffed that you barely notice you’re listening, every syllable of every lyric only admitted to the melodies after painstaking reviewing and rewriting, and every song sung as if Vega believes that her core audience consists of elocution teachers. This has worked, occasionally, for Vega before–it should not be forgotten what an original presence she was with “Left of Center” and “Marlene on the Wall”–and it works, occasionally, for Vega now. There are a few fine songs here, notably the gently acerbic “Last Year’s Troubles” and the wryly subversive “Maggie May” (not the Rod Stewart standard), but there is also a whole lot of glutinous, over-refined suet. Vega still needs to give her songs a much longer leash. –Andrew Mueller
NINE OBJECTS OF DESIRE
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - September 3, 1996
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
"Building on the sonic experiments of 99.9F[degrees]...a stunning collection that’s simultaneously sensuous and thought provoking. The album’s 12 songs — which find an erotic charge in subjects ranging from childbirth to death — are constructed from the groove up, enlivened by Vega’s coolly knowing vocals, as well as instrumental flourishes that often recall Revolver-era Beatles. Nine Objects of Desire‘s a long way from "Luka," but Vega has managed to remake herself as the most consistently challenging and exciting singer-songwriter working today."
- Entertainment Weekly
99.9 F
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - September 4, 1992
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
"Vega's tunes, as usual, prove to be at once stinging and soothing. Sonically venturesome and marked by tare poetic depth, 99.9 Fº is yet another deeply rewarding chapter in Vega's artistic saga. 99.9 F featured a number of masterpieces. In “Blood Makes Noise” Vega's desire to continue to evolve as a writer and performer, to avoid the trap of repeating herself, is manifested in a song that refutes the “folkie” stereotype...In “99.9F”, the same concise lyricism Vega brings to every song is present, but it's allied to a production that brings out the dreamlike, almost hallucinogenic elements present in many of her songs. With “In Liverpool” Vega created one of the best pop songs ever committed to tape." - Rolling Stone
DAYS OF OPEN HAND
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - April 17, 1990
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
"With each new album, Suzanne Vega gets stronger. Days of Open Hand is her hardest and loveliest music yet; it is distinguished by a prayerful intensity and a clean, sharp intelligence that announce a young artist fully come into her own...With Days of Open Hand, Vega assumes her place in the folk tradition as an individual talent. Bob Dylan did it when he moved from the offhand plain speaking of folk songs into a denser folk rock, his lyrics courting a wild obscurity in his driven search of a more personal voice. Vega's record takes a similar leap; she's now beyond borders, making an unaffected art music that's heady, heartfelt, very demanding – and very rewarding...And Vega's voice has never been so moving; particularly when accompanied by her own multitracked singing or backed by Shawn Colvin, she sounds like an earthangel choir."
- Rolling Stone
Solitude Standing
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - February 6, 1987
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Suzanne Vega emerged in the mid-’80s, and while her intimate voice and acoustic guitar brought to mind Joni Mitchell, her urbane lyrics suggested a sensibility that was as much reportorial as confessional. Vega’s second album, which replaced the delicate acoustic textures of her self-titled debut with more dramatic arrangements, includes Vega’s career song, “Luka,” surely one of the biggest hits ever written about child abuse. But it was the energetic folk-rock production of “Luka,” thick with ringing guitars and pushed by perky drums, that let the listener luxuriate in a song that suggested the darkness that can lurk behind a neighbor’s door. The title tune confronts personal loneliness with a similarly powerful performance, while “Ironbound/Fancy Poultry” makes a downtown landscape sound downright homey. Well-turned tunes like “Calypso” and “Gypsy” recall the softer textures of her debut. Ironically, Vega’s next big hit would come when the English production duo DNA made a dance hit out of “Tom’s Diner,” a nursery-rhyme tribute to a coffee shop that opens the album. –John Milward
Suzanne Vega
T R A C K L I S T
Album Release Date - May 1,1985
Label - A&M Records
ABOUT THE ALBUM
"She emerges as the strongest, most decisively shaped songwriting personality to come along in years," wrote John Rockwell in The New York Times album review. "Unlike most pop-music lyrics with a reputation for poetry, these really can stand alone; with music, they're even better" he continued. Ending his review with a commentary on "Undertow," Rockwell writes, "A major achievement, as is this remarkable record as a whole."