Close-Up 2: People & Places(Acoustic Hits/Re-Reco [CD]

The second part of Suzanne Vega's Close-Up series, People & Places is an exquisite rerecording of her journalistic songs. She keeps the same highly proximate vocal sound as in Close-Up Vol.1: Love Songs, and sticks to the same purity of presentation, but the arrangements -- especially on songs from 99.9 -- have more instrumentation, and she introduces percussion and strings. These are mainly songs from the second and the fourth albums, and, slightly strangely, there have been no songs from the third album, Days of Open Hand, on either this or the preceding volume.

Many people are busily remastering or remixing their earlier albums, and a significant handful are offering re-recordings or previously unreleased archives. Re-recordings typically have richer, even lush production. Suzanne Vega's approach -- to entirely re-record, using a much sparser sound, production and arrangement than ever before -- is unique. The sound, especially on the quieter tracks, such as the The Queen & The Soldier, is so close that it is absolutely riveting. There are just two exceptions -- Ironbound/Fancy Poultry has a richer, thicker production than on Solitude Standing, though this is still in keeping with the overall held-back approach, and the vocal part is still highly proximate. Tom's Diner, in a similar vein, is a slight amalgam of the styles of the various recorded versions, though there is so much separation between the vocal and the club-style bass that you are almost hearing the acapella over a bass version.

There is just one new track -- The man who played God -- which previously appeared on Sparklehorse's Dark Night Of The Soul.

So, is this worth getting, and why?

If you've avoided the various 'Greatest Hits' style collections of Vega's work, you may be tempted to avoid this as another repackaging. It isn't. Nor is it a set of archive songs or hastily engineered live sessions. Suzanne Vega has made the recording of an absolutely perfect rendition of her songs in something close to -- but sparser than -- the original, bright, brilliant and at times empty sound of the first album a labour of love, and a mission

If you've bought the previous album, and are wondering if this one is as good, then my answer would be: yes, but in a different way. As love songs, the previous album was intensely personal, and benefited from the most minimal arrangement. Some of these songs -- Neighbourhood Girls, for example -- are done in the same way. But others pick up additional resonance from new arrangements including 'cello on The Queen & The Soldier. Fat Man & Dancing Girl is produced to an acoustic vibe, which is much softer than the original album version, but still thicker and bouncier than anything on Close-up 1. Tom's Diner is the song which is significantly different from the style of Close-up 1, perhaps a reflection of the twin facts that it was her most popular song partially through remixes, and that you can hear it entirely acapella on Solitude Standing.

I ordered this the moment I heard it was coming out, rushed home to hear it, and was just as delighted as with the first Close-up 1. My only regret is that I will now have to wait a considerable time for volume 3.

Strongly recommended.

The sleeve notes call these songs objective and journalistic in nature. They are well chosen and clearly much thought has gone into their selection and order. They showcase Suzanne Vega's strength in writing and performing these types of songs. They also demonstrate why a revisit to her song catalogue is a definite plus.

The album is a cracking listen on many fronts. The lyrics are several notches up from the norm, the musicianship is exquisite and the songs play well together.

What sets this album apart for me is the subtle use of the instruments behind the vocal and acoustic guitar. It takes the album beyond a very good acoustic set to something rather special.

Toping this with the next in the series is going to be very tough.

Once again Suzanne Vega comfirms her great talent with another fantastic re-working of some of her well known songs. The production is perfect with her voice coming through clear and strong - the new instrumentation works really well with no attempts made to be 'clever'. Rather this is a heartfelt re-imagining of her songs reflecting where she is now in her life compared to then. I can't wait for the next one! If you love her music you need to buy tihs album.