''Songs in Red and Gray'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

. It was released on September 25, 2001, by

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

Music and lyrics

On ''Songs in Red and Gray'', Vega returns to her signature acoustic

folk-pop Folk-pop is a broad Music genre#Subtypes, musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop music, pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic music, acoustic-based folk music, folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been ...

sound, shedding the experiments she had done in the 1990s with her husband, record producer

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

. New producer

Rupert Hine Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English record producer and musician. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins, Stevie Nic ...

shows some traces of his past work with '80s new wave bands by employing electronic beats, but mostly allows Vega's voice and guitar to dominate in a manner reminiscent of her debut album and its 1987 follow-up, ''

Solitude Standing ''Solitude Standing'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, released on April 1, 1987, by A&M Records. It is the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Vega's, being certified Platinum in t ...

''. Most of the songs, like "Widow's Walk" and "If I Were a Weapon", deal with the dissolution of Vega's marriage with Froom. Her "calm, hushed, clear singing" belies the album's "mood of heartbroken defiance". The lyrics are "the most personally revealing songs she has written" in her career.

Track listing

Personnel

* Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar *

Gerry Leonard Gerry Leonard (born 26 February 1962) is an Irish guitarist known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Duncan Sheik and many others. He has a solo projec ...

– electric and acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mandolin, zither *

– keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, drum programming * Mike Visceglia – bass guitar * Nik Pugh – drum programming, synth lead *

Jay Bellerose Jay Bellerose is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session and live performance work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists. Biography Bellerose was born in Maine. A jazz enthusiast, he attended ...

– drums * Matt Johnson – drums * Doug Yowell – drums, percussion * Pamela Sue Man – backing vocals, harmony vocals * Elizabeth Taubman – harmony vocals * Stephen W Tayler – recording and mixing engineer

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums Suzanne Vega albums Albums produced by Rupert Hine A&M Records albums