Suzanne Vega
concludes her series of albums reexamining her songbook with
Close-Up, Vol. 4: Songs of Family
, and given the album's themes, it's appropriate that this is the most spare and intimate installment in this mostly acoustic series. These 14 songs all deal with familial relationships, albeit in many different ways, from a sly contemplation of her marriage ("Honeymoon Suite") to studying the emotional fallout of her divorce ("Soap and Water"), from meeting her biological father for the first time ("Pilgrimage") to revisiting the neighborhood where she grew up ("Ludlow Street"), while also finding room to celebrate her love for her daughter ("World Before Columbus") and the grim tale of another child whose relationship with her folks is not as rosy ("Bad Wisdom").
Vega
(who served as her own producer) and her musical director
Gerry Leonard
have given all the albums in this series a clean and uncluttered sound, but
Songs of Family
aims for an even more Spartan approach, and while multi-instrumentalist
Leonard
had added some artful accompaniment on several tracks, the music is subtle even at its most passionate, and
's vocals and lyrics are front and center throughout; in her liner notes,
declares this album "has the folkiest sound of the four volumes," and that suits these songs quite well. Like the previous three
Close-Up
albums,
is dominated by songs
has recorded before, but this set also features three songs that have never before appeared on one of her albums. "The Silver Lady" is a fantasy tale
first wrote as a teenager, "Brother Mine" is another bit of juvenilia that's clever and charming, and "Daddy Is White" is a blunt but perceptive autobiographical sketch of how racial attitudes shaped her own upbringing. (The song first surfaced as a demo recording
posted along with an essay for
The New York Times
.) Like its siblings,
may not connect with casual fans happy to hold on to the original versions of these songs, but the subtle but real emotional gravity of these new performances is impressive, and at in its best moments
has found fresh life and depth in these reinterpretations; this is stronger and more affecting work than most artists achieve when they give their songs a second try in the studio. ~ Mark Deming