s/t - Plak

ENGLISH

Suzanne Vega never wanted to write songs for the radio nor did she want to see her songs stamped as 'women's music'. And yet her late debut album from the mid-80s blows a breath of fresh air into the dusty folk movement, bringing new ideas to the expression of subjective emotions. She trod in the footsteps of a great number of singers who wanted to share their thoughts with others, performing in small venues in Greenwich Village until at last A&M gave her a contract. Co-producer Lenny Kaye, formerly a guitarist in Patti Smith's band and a highly experienced musician, stood by the New York lady with the cool, melancholy timbre. No wonder then that the support band offers a handmade, rocking sound, which backs up the vocal mixture of singing and speaking here and there in minimalistic fashion. Thanks to the resulting simplicity of the sound, her lyrics – short statements, poetic reports and psychogramme – take on a remarkable clarity and intensity. It is at this point that one realises that these musical poems demand concentrated listening and are therefore not really suitable for radio but for a quite corner at home.

Recording: January - March 1985 at Celestial Sound Studios, New York, by Steve Addabbo

Production: Ronald K. Fierstein