Tuesday October 2, 2001

Songs in Red and Gray

(A&M Records)

Grade:

B

Creating again after a five-year hiatus, Suzanne Vega is back with an intimate and melancholy collection of ballads.

Weaving a yarn that slips across genres as diverse as an ode to Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" and invocations of the Virgin Mary, the overall feeling of the album is intimate, plaintive and biting - a warm, relaxing shower followed by a cold, bracing splash in the face.

A first listen of Songs in Red and Gray immediately brought to mind a combination of Dido, Elvis Costello and Sarah McLachlan - varied influences that work strangely well together. Tinges of melancholy flavor the disc, and it would follow that these are due to Vega's recent divorce from producer/husband Mitchell Froom.

In "Widow's Walk," Vega explains simply, "Consider me a widow, boys, and I will tell you why. It's not the man, but it's the marriage that was drowned."

Vega - who single-handedly pioneered the adult alternative rock scene in the late '80s with her self-titled debut - went on to release Solitude Standing; the album deservedly garnered much mainstream radio play with the hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner." Five albums later, Vega is back at crafting intimate stories with thoughtful, subtle guitar and instrumental accompaniment.

Complex lyrics and wordplay set off and are able to shine through the album with only minimal instrumental assistance. In "It Makes Me Wonder," Vega whispers along a smooth drumline, reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies, "sulky boy won't drink his milk/mother's breast beneath the silk/remains untouched; it's way too much/reject all of that ilk."

Songs in Red and Gray stays fresh and intimate in that the lyrics are not over-processed with post-production finesse or gratuitous orchestrations. Vega's recent contribution is refreshingly good post-breakup music - light some candles and listen to Vega sing her stories by yourself with a warm cup of tea.