Disco de Suzanne Vega: “Nine Objects of Desire”

Being a child of the new generation, I kinda swallowed all of Suzanne Vega's recordings into one full year of listening (even her latest stuff); each record being so richly layered and unique, I took my time with each and it was not easy to decide, but this record, 1996's Nine Objects Of Desire was most definitely my favorite.

For one, it's different; it's a jazz-tingled, blues sprinkled, funky instrumentalist love affair with seduction in general. Each song is a short anecdote to passion; and this passion can be as exquisite, yet simple as a plum (My Favorite Plum), as supple as caramel during the envisioning of an intimate evening (Caramel), or a masculine figure to sweep her off her feet (Thin Man - a personal favorite due to its sheer exuberance); some of these songs denote so much sentiment that it makes you wonder how privileged Suzanne Vega was to feel these fundamentally rare emotions, or at least render such a rich retelling of them.

Nonetheless, the topper of the concept of the entire album is that they are really desires; she marvels in the sensations, but there is this prevailing emotion of yearning, which is how life is, for the most part. The near 40 minutes that the album lasts will be like a breather, a snippet of the perfect erotic fantasy, the perfect evening, the perfect love affair, the perfect vocal savoring, even the perfect honeymoon. The album really scratched an itch in me.

Highlights: Lolita, No Cheap Thrill, Casual Match, Caramel, Birthday, The World Before Columbus, and Thin Man.

This is an extraordinarily sensual album, as noted by others, with "Stockings" and "Caramel" standing out. The other standout to me is "World Before Columbus," a warm love song, with the rest of the songs good enough but forgettable. Contrary to some of what you may read here, "Nine Objects" wasn't a clean break from the "99.9Fº" sound still found here on several songs, but the bossa nova style used to good effect on several others was new for Vega, as were other jazz touches, and they suit the material perfectly. I'm not sure everyone below is interpreting Ms. Vega's often-cryptic lyrics properly, but her poetry is as rich here as ever, and the heat of this CD, however subdued and smoldering, was a welcome contrast to earlier material. Though I only really fell in love with a few songs, "Nine Objects" was my favorite of her first 5 CD's for a long time. On re-listening 7 years later, I think this is because the sound is consistently gorgeous, perfectly produced, and this helps one overlook the unremarkable quality of the bulk of the songs. Of course, "unremarkable" by Suzanne Vega standards is so remarkable that there is nothing to criticize here except by comparison with other work by the same artist. Musically, this CD draws me in like none of her others save "99.9Fº", and lyrically it's second to none save perhaps "Songs in Red and Gray". This is no second-best, though - Vega's works are all different, and I'd consider this one an essential for any serious (or perhaps less-than-serious) fan.

In Nine Objects of Desire Suzanne Vega is a songwriter on the very top of her game. Intelligent songwriting is a quantity in very short supply these days and Vega makes it look easy, with each song telling a different story. One would think that the music might suffer when so much attention has been paid to the lyrics, but this is not the case, musically each song is very well crafted. Many of the songs have a haunting or spooky quality to them, perhaps most exemplified by "Headshots," which probably got the most radio airplay, but they are all very evocative. "Nine Objects..." is what every album should be like, no clinkers among the bunch.

Timing must be everything. Within the same week I picked up this excellent 1996 set at a garage sale, fell in love with the addictive "Caramel," and then heard the same song from the trailer of the new Mike Nichols film "Closer" starring Julia Roberts & Jude Law. With its samba beat and lyrical imagery, "Caramel" is a gorgeous track, "It won't do to dream of caramel, to think of cinnamon & long for you." Vega does a terrific job on many of the tracks here including "Headshots" with Steve Donnelly's haunting electric guitar, "He's just a poster, but he's everywhere. A face under a street lamp ripped & hanging in the air." "Casual Match" has a great insistent beat with Vega's haunting half-whispered vocals. "Lolita" also percolates with a bopping rhythm track. "Tombstone" is another catchy track, "I don't need to see the gates of famous men, but I do try to see the kingdom every now & then." "Nine Objects of Desire" boasts a number of sterling tracks. I'll wait to see if "Caramel" is included in the soundtrack for "Closer," but perhaps this set will again get some deserved exposure. Enjoy!

Having been the first Suzanne Vega album i've ever bought , this seemed to me unimpressive and quite bizzare at first . It is wrong though to try to judge Nine Objects Of Desire without taking the time to study carefully the songs and to distinguish the role it plays as a part of the discreet yet essential change in Vega's sound .

While on 99.9F the singer made the big step and reinvented herself by mixing her guitar melodies with funk and machinery sounds , on this offering we find her giving jazz a try . The lyrics are once more challenging and sharp . On " Birthday (love made real) " Vega sings about the experience giving birth . " One Thing i know , this pain will go " she declares at the beginning of the song only to start shouting " shake all over like an old sick dog... " with stange enthusiasm on the refrain . On " Honeymoon Suite " she tells us a hauntig story about visions and ghosts in some hotel-room in France . Her lines in many tracks are full of metaphors and symbolisms . What does her " Favourite Plum " stands for on the last track ? Is it a man ? Or is it the life she wants to have ? It's all these details that make this record so exciting .

Musically the variety is easily being sensed by the listener. Vega choses to follow paths she's never been to before and sings a bossa nova confession of lust in " Caramel " and the smoked , bluesy " Headshots " on which "...a poster of a boy on the wall " whose " two eyes in the sade ,a mouth so sad and small " brings in mind an old lover .

See Nine Objects Of Desire as a piece of potrait's puzzle picturing a woman who behind her calm looks hides so much soul and personallity . That's when you'll understand how great it actually is.