Coming in as both underrated and understated is the latest entry into the wallflower career of Suzanne Vega. The intelligent songstress finally emerges from the shadows of NYC with Beauty and Crime, her first disc on Blue Note Records and first overall in six years.

Vega again arrives fashionably late, knowing just what she's doing. Her calculated folk sensibilities run the gamut - from the jazzy "Pornographer's Dream" to the lilting "Anniversary." In between, she picks up the pace ("Zephyr & I") and sets it back down again ("Edith Wharton's Figurines") to lullabic effect.

Vega's at her best when she can sit you down for a spell and ruminate on the life she sees around her. "Luka" was the song that launched a career, yet it was also a story of the life she saw near her apartment building. Some things never change. "Anniversary" focuses on NYC a year after 9/11. "Frank and Ava" is a Sheryl Crow outtake that works quite well in the midst of more somber territory. The same can be said for the electronica found on "Unbound."

But for all the welcome interruptions, you and I both came for tracks like "Pornographer's Dream" and the aforementioned "Figurines," both of which feature Vega's whispery vocal that knows to give just enough and nothing more. The result is a collection of stories centered on minimal soundscapes that do the job set in front of them.

Artist: Suzanne Vega
Album: Beauty & Crime
Tracks: 11
Label: EMI
Reviewer: Matt Conner