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Suzanne Vega / Lover, Beloved: Songs From An Evening With Carson McCullers

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Suzanne Vega will release Lover, Beloved: Songs From An Evening With Carson McCullers, her ninth studio album later this year…

The album is based on the singer-songwriters’ new play about the American author Carson McCullers and features ten original Vega songs, mostly co-written with composer Duncan Sheik.

McCullers wrote four novels in her fairly short life, the first of which was The Heart Is The Lonely Hunter (name-checked by Paul Young on his The Crossing album) and her 1951 short story collection The Ballad of the Sad Café has been referenced in popular culture many times and indeed a film was produced by Merchant Ivory in 1991.

sv_thumbI’m very much liking the front cover image of the album, which echoes the spirit of her early photos from 1985, in New York.

Vega’s play Lover, Beloved is a one woman show in which she stars. It will open in late October in Los Angeles, just after the album is released on 14 October 2016 on her own label Amanuensis Productions (through Cooking Vinyl in the UK).

Suzanne will also be playing live on The Lover, Beloved tour (not sure how she’s managing to appear in a one woman play AND go on tour, but anyway…) and tickets go on sale today, in the UK. You can hear a live rendition of Harper Lee, below:


Suzanne Vega performs Harper Lee by telegraphvideo

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Suzanne Vega

LOVER, BELOVED: SONGS FROM AN EVENING WITH CARSON MCCULLERS - CD

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track_listing

1.”Carson’s Blues”
2. “New York Is My Destination”
3. “Instant of the Hour After”
4. “We of Me”
5. “Annemarie”
6. “Twelve Mortal Men”
7. “Harper Lee”
8. “Lover, Beloved”
9. “The Ballad of Miss Amelia”
10. “Carson’s Last Supper”

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26 Comments

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Tim

Instant of the Hour After was already released on Close Up Vol 3 and is excellent.
Excited for the whole project.

WKRP

I could get into a blu-ray of the show more than a CD. I liked the video.

Tony

Thanks for the heads-up about this new album, and the video link to the live performance of one of the songs (“Harper Lee”). Looks and sounds really interesting. Regarding your comments on the front cover image, I think Vega may be channeling Carson McCullers. Just Google her name and check out the images….a remarkable resemblance between the two.

Ronnie

thanks for the address of the uk-site (or is it Spanish?). Ordered a signed copy incl delivery for €16, not bad

alan hansen

am i mistaken here? is there a deluxe edition of this that i’ve missed?

The Cat

Know it’s a bit off topic, but surprised you didn’t mention the 1969 film version of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter… Here’s the IMBD link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063050/?ref_=nv_sr_2
It is available on dvd in the US and, in the UK, a Korean release version. One of the great “small” American films from the sixties when they still produced cinema and not just popcorn bait crap.
Still one of the few films in existence to treat disablility and predjudice.

If you end up seeing it and liking it, another recommendation would be A Patch of Blue, 1965:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059573/?ref_=nv_sr_2 Again, available on dvd in the US and UK, but there seems to be no cheap version. This one adds what used to be called “the race question” (still unresolved, with police shootings in the news just the other day) into the mix. It also has one the great, great Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks, sadly out of print.

As for Vega, an odd fact is that the inventor of the MP3 used the vocal only version of Tom’s Diner as a “perfect voice” to test the format’s capabilities. Inadvertently, (and at the time without her knowledge) she contributed to the beginnings of the end of “physical” music formats…

Mike

For those asking this is the UK site:
suzannevega.tmstor.es/ (a Townsend Records store -logins for will work across stores)

Simon

Thanks Mike.

Dean

To be fair shipping costs from the US to the UK have gone through the roof. It’s not a matter of the vendors hiking their prices, it’s the postal costs over there which hae spiked.

I watched the video and this is not for me. It’s interesting in a Noel Coward kind of way, but not something I’d be paying to listen to – if indeed such songs stand up to repeat listening.

I kind of lost tough with Vega after 99.9F, which is just a stunning record. Sadly for us it was made with her then, I think, husband Mitchell Froom – whose sonic footprint is all over it. They split, and she never mined that vein of sound before, which is a shame because it’s an great album. Open hand was also terrific, along with her earlier albums.

After 99.9F she was less interesting – albeit that her voice has a fragility that’s entrancing. Looking at the video it’s a real pleasure to see her looking well, and apparently hardly aged! (Unlike me!)

Only disappointment was the “piano”. Come on Ms. Vega – if you want to channel Coward then you need a real piano, not that monstrosity. ;)

Luke

If you’re seeing one of her concerts, she’s always great about coming out and signing stuff after. I have 4 or 5 LPs signed by her, all on separate occasions.

Ronnie

Trying for the signed cd ($20), shipping to the Netherlands is either $14,25 or almost $80. looks like a copy without the signature then

Saar Freedman

I wail wait to see what japan ends up releasing. All her albums Since
‘Songs In Red And Gray’ have had Japan exclusive bonus tracks.

colin

Also on SuzanneVega.com it appears the CD and scripts are signed, but not the vinyl LP.

Chris L

Last time I tried to order a cd from her website, they wanted to charge over $10 for shipping (to the UK)!

Enrico G.

“Tales from the Realm…” is a fantastic album.
Can’t wait for this.

Steve W

I adored her previous album but this sounds like a return to her earlier albums. For many this will be a great thing but I prefer her more recent material. Nonetheless I will still be buying it. :)

Paul Mac

Signed copies of the CD are available from suzannevega.com (allbeit at quite a healthy mark-up).

colin

I wonder if maybe you were looking at the bundle offers (which are a bit pricey) as ive just looked and the signed cd is £10. Regards, Colin.

colin

I have Just ordered the Signed cd £12 inc P+P! Get them while you can these usually sell out fast! Regards, Colin.

colin

I have Just ordered the Signed cd £12 inc P+P from her .co.uk site! Get them while you can these usually sell out fast! Regards, Colin.

Simon

Hello Colin. I cannot find a .co.uk site – can you give you its full name? Thanks.

GHB

Had a quick search and it looks like these are available in pounds sterling (£10 for the signed cd) from;

http://suzannevega.tmstor.es

assume plus delivery but should still be considerable cheaper than ordering from the US.

Hope this helps ….

Neal

which is her uk site? I cant seem to find it

Mike Gray

Signed copies available direct from her site too.