Review Summary: Vega effortlessly blends folk and dance
Suzanne Vega was a critical darling from the moment she stepped into the scene with her self-titled debut in 1985. She scored a couple of hits, first with “Luka,” the tale of an abused child, and then with “Tom’s Diner,” a tale of a mundane meal at a diner, remixed by DNA. On “99.9 F°”, it sounds as if the latter had greater influence. Though rumors that Vega was at work on an electronica record proved virtually unfounded, “99” has undertones of dance, whether it’s the beat or synthesized rock.
The title track epitomizes Vega’s shift to dance-influenced rock. As she sings sultry lyrics that double as thinly-veiled metaphors (“Pale as a candle and your face is hot/And if I touch you I might get what you’ve got”), the backing music pounds away with the assistance of some synthesizers and keyboards that would have stuck out like a sore thumb on her earlier work, but perfectly match the mood here. “Blood Makes Noise” is composed similarly, though loud, layered guitars compete with the synths for attention as Vega sings of the “ringing in (her) ears.” The tune sounds vaguely influenced by 80’s new wave, a scene that she barely missed, but “Blood” doesn’t have the sort of dated, cheesy sound much of new wave music has. Here, Vega is dead-serious, and it suits her well.
That’s not to say that everything on the record is laden with synthesizers, keyboards, and loud guitars. The album’s high point, “In Liverpool,” forgoes these features almost entirely, opting for a more stripped-down sound as Vega croons a tale of lost love. The stripped-down sound is present elsewhere, too, particularly on “Fat Man & Dancing Girl,” which consists of deadpan vocals and a boilerplate beat… until a slew of organs, guitars, and keyboards pop up to make the chorus stand tall. The record is sometimes playful, too, as on “(If You Were) In My Movie,” which is one of her most flirtatious songs to date, or the puzzling “As Girls Go,” in which Vega expresses total disconcern for her partner’s femininity.
Whether or not "99" is Vega’s best album is debatable – the songs can grow incredibly weighty at times, and none of the songs have the x-factor of “Tom’s Diner” or the cleverness of “Marlene on the Wall.” Nonetheless, “99.9 F°” is an electronic-folk classic, if there is such a thing.
