Music Review: Suzanne Vega, Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles

By Jeffery X Martin

Suzanne Vega is one of the few survivors of the Great Folk Uprising of the Eighties. Her career hit its heights with her single, “Luka,” which was later covered by The Lemonheads. The British producing team, BNA, turned her a capella tune, “Tom’s Diner,” into an international dance hit. You know. “Doo do doo DO doo do-doo DO.” That one.

As it happens with some artists, as Vega matured as a performer and songwriter, her presence on the music charts decreased. Some of her best works went practically unnoticed (why people never caught onto her album Songs in Red and Gray is one of the great mysteries of our time).

After a seven-year break, Vega is back with Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, a fascinating mix of bitterness and release, spirituality and despair.

Drawing heavily on imagery from Tarot cards, Vega explores themes that could be misconstrued as feminist. They come off more as someone experiencing life in a female body, and dealing with all the tropes and expectations that come along with it. She isn’t militant, but she is aware, and asking those important life questions with the heart of a poet.

“How I hate the Queen of Pentacles/Sitting on her golden throne/In her domestic tyranny/All roads lead back to her alone,” sings Vega in “Fool’s Complaint.” It’s a song about the longing for freedom, to not get caught up in the traps laid before her.

She’s been trapped before, and she elucidates further in the standout track, “I Never Wear White,” in which she paints herself as the voice of wisdom, gained through sad misadventure. “My color is black for the crone and the bastard/For the schoolgirl in uniform/For the serpent in the hall.”

It’s a pretty heavy record, but not without its light spots. “Don’t Uncork What You Can’t Contain” is a fun fable about keeping things to yourself that even references Macklemore. It’s a cool song, perfectly placed on the album to provide a break from all the references to divination and Christian scripture.

Let’s face it, though. You don’t go into a Suzanne Vega album looking for cool dance grooves or party music. Her music is nothing if not introspective, and even her story songs are multi-layered, packing an emotional punch one doesn’t always expect. She doesn’t show you her heart, she makes you listen to it, and there will always be blood on the speakers.

Always an accomplished guitarist, Vega’s musicianship has never been better. Her acoustic guitar rings out like a warning bell on these tracks, commanding the listener’s attention instead of being mixed out of commission. Producer Gerry Leonard knows how Vega should be recorded: a minimum of muss, strange percussion low in the background, her voice and guitar at the front of the soundstage, where she can lure the listener in all by herself. Everything else is just gravy.

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is one of Suzanne Vega’s finest albums. The songs are rich in metaphor and meaning, her voice a gorgeous low mystery. This is a compelling record that only grows more endearing with each listen, wrapping around the listener like a soft cloak that hides sharp things in its deep pockets.

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles was released on February 4 by Amanuensis Productions and distributed by Cooking Vinyl/Superego. It is available on iTunes, Amazon and wherever fine records are sold.