“I was talking to the producer of my 2007 album, Beauty and Crime and discussing who had seen the biggest rat,” recalls Suzanne Vega. “Afterwards, I kept hearing various rat stories, all of them true. I took note and set them to music, inspired by The Ramones and Fontaines D.C.” “Rats”, released September 17, chronicles the infamous rat population of her hometown and is accommodated by an animated video by Martha Colburn. “Rats” offers a glimpse at a forthcoming album.
Widely regarded as one of the foremost songwriters of her generation, Vega emerged as a leading figure of the early 1980s folk revival when she performed what have been called contemporary folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has been known for performances that convey deep emotion, with NPR Music noting that she “has been making vital, inventive music” throughout her career.
Bearing the stamp of a masterful storyteller who “observes the world with a clinically poetic eye” (The New York Times), Vega’s songs have tended to focus on city life, ordinary people and real-world subjects. Notably succinct and understated, her work is immediately recognizable—as utterly distinct and thoughtful as it was when first heard on the radio over 30 years ago.
Vega’s most recent album, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories, was released in 2020. A live recording, it incorporates her familiar songs, deep cuts from her catalog and a cover of “Walk On The Wild Side” by her late friend, Lou Reed. The album also features “New York Is My Destination” from Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, Vega’s 2016 album from her one-woman play about the Southern gothic novelist Carson McCullers.
