SUZANNE VEGA unfolds her wings by releasing ‘FLYING WITH ANGELS’

Widely regarded as one of the foremost songwriters of her generation or any other, Suzanne Vega releases her first full-length album of new music in over a decade : Flying With Angels, out now on Cooking Vinyl. The record is produced by Vega’s longtime collaborator and guitarist Gerry Leonard (David Bowie, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Duncan Sheik). 

“Each song on the album takes place in an atmosphere of struggle,” notes Vega. “Struggle to survive, to speak, to dominate, to win, to escape, to help someone else, or just live.”

The album’s first single “Speakers’ Corner” acknowledges the increasingly political nature of communication today, when the ability to speak one’s mind is easier than ever on social media, and yet that privilege is often misused. Vega elaborates, “That’s something you don’t want in democracy: the shutting down of the Speakers’ Corner where people get a say. This is a moment in time when people are saying a lot, but sometimes they’re not making sense or not telling the truth. People should be accountable for what they say. They can’t just lie. One would think that that would be self-evident.” 

Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has written and recorded numerous songs that have become part of the contemporary music vernacular, including “Luka,” “Marlene on the Wall” and “Tom’s Diner,” an a cappella piece that was remixed by U.K. electronic dance duo DNA and became a major club hit. It remains an oft-sampled and covered standard by artists across the musical spectrum. Her albums, including her self-titled debut, follow-up Solitude Standing and 99.9F have sold millions of copies worldwide. dignity in tough times remains a timeless story. It’s a gripping, hard-hitting addition to his discography.