Suzanne Vega

Lyrically and vocally reminiscent of an acerbic but less rough-edged Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega first made her mark in the mid-80s among the Edie Brickell/Natalie Merchant crowd of earnest female folk-rockers. Even in her mawkish breakout hit, the anti-child abuse ode “Luka,” she had an almost hidden steely edge that set her apart from her peers. An unlikely techno adaptation of her “Tom’s Diner” became a surprise hit, leading to edgier production on her 1990s albums—a couple of interesting singles resulted, including the buzzily paranoid “Blood Makes Noise,” but often her writing style was too intimate for the clanky signature sound of producer (and husband) Mitchell Froom. Their bitter divorce led to the deceptively still, emotionally turbulent Songs of Red and Gray, her strongest album in years. Last year she executive-produced Vigil, a compilation of Greenwich Village songwriters dealing with 9/11. Her current tour’s in support of the new best-of set Retrospective.


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