Suzanne Vega

Songs in Red and Gray

(A&M Records)

Suzanne Vega has been making records since 1985. She’s 42, and for most people that age milestone signals the end (unless you’re The Rolling Stones or B.B. King).

But “Songs in Red and Gray” is anything but another disc from an over-the-hill solo artist with an acoustic guitar.

The guitar work is excellent and every note seems carefully plotted. The lyrics are incredibly personal dealing with topics such as the fallouts of marriage, raising a child as a single parent and dealing with an ex-husband who is a “dark riddle.” While I am not an expert on Vega’s music, this album probably ranks fairly high compared to her previous work.

This is the kind of artist-coming-into-their own album that helps define a career: personal, insightful, lyrically-powerful. She uses metaphors often to describe and paint pictures of emotions and feelings and with a soft, calm and cool voice that makes for a relaxing listen.

She sounds kind of like a cross between Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco with Vega serving as Mitchell’s student and DiFranco learning from Vega.

The highlight of the album is the single, “Widow’s Walk,” a slightly darker, faster-paced song that resembles a Sarah McLachlan-type view on men and how they treat women bad. The album is far too light compared to most college radio and rock, but it is sure to fit in nicely with those who care more for the lost art of songwriting and less about how much booty-shaking one can muster from one CD.