Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family

Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family is the eleventh studio album by New York–based singer/songwriter and musician Suzanne Vega[2] [3] . The album consists of re-recordings of songs from Vega's back catalogue with stripped-down arrangements that highlight her lyrics and melodies. Two of the songs, "Brother Mine" and "The Silver Lady", are songs Vega wrote more than 30 years ago, but are only now seeing an official recording and release. "Daddy is White" is a song she wrote back in 2007, previously only existing as a demo attached to an article in The New York Times titled "Which Side Are You On?" she wrote in 2008.[4]

Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 21, 2012 (2012-09-21)
GenreAcoustic
Length47:43
LabelAmanuensis Productions
ProducerSuzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega chronology
Close-Up Vol. 3, States of Being
(2011)
Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family
(2012)
Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles
(2014)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]

Track listing

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"Pilgrimage"[5] was recorded in October 2011. As of December 15, 2011, the album was "almost done".[6]

All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Rosemary" Tried and True (1998)2:54
2."Honeymoon Suite" Nine Objects of Desire (1996)3:13
3."World Before Columbus" Nine Objects of Desire (1996)3:00
4."As You Are Now" Beauty & Crime (2007)2:28
5."Soap And Water" Songs in Red and Gray (2001)2:52
6."Widow's Walk" Songs in Red and Gray (2001)3:42
7."Blood Sings" 99.9F° (1992)3:20
8."Bad Wisdom" 99.9F° (1992)3:10
9."Ludlow Street" Beauty & Crime (2007)3:11
10."Tired Of Sleeping" Days of Open Hand (1990)3:47
11."Pilgrimage"Vega, Anton SankoDays of Open Hand (1990)4:26
12."Brother Mine" previously unreleased3:14
13."The Silver Lady" previously unreleased5:35
14."Daddy Is White" previously unreleased2:44

Charts

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Chart (2012) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] 160

References

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  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "Close-Up, Vol. 4: Songs of Family - Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  2. ^ Zimmerman, Peter (April 1, 2011). "Show Review-Suzanne Vega-Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco, CA 01/27/2011". glidemagazine.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. ^ Kroll, Vicki L. (October 6, 2011). "Singer-songwriter Vega revisits songs, works on musical". Toledo Free Press. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Vega, Suzanne (December 3, 2008). "Which Side Are You On?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  5. ^ Twitter: Re-recording Pilgrimage for CloseUp Vol 4.
  6. ^ Twitter: Finishing up Close-up Vol 4, songs of family. Almost done!
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Suzanne Vega – Close-Up: Vol. 4, Songs of Family" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.