Suzanne Vega: Nine Objects Of Desire

After years spent turning out stone-faced folk-pop like the smash-hit "Luka," Suzanne Vega reinvented herself on 99.9 F, which balanced the singer's icy, detached vocals with inventive rhythms and arrangements. The album worked, and so does the new Nine Objects of Desire: The songs are creatively constructed again, and for the first time ever, Vega's vocals actually radiate subtle sensuality. The result is a brisk, breezy record that benefits from newfound personality and warmth in Vega's voice—and which mostly addresses the personal rather than the political. (Even the pretty "World Before Columbus" is about love, and not the exploitation of indigenous people.) Nine Objects is an impressive extension of 99.9 F, and a sign that Vega has undergone a welcome personal and musical rebirth.