Weaving lyrical magic

HER name is Suzanne Vega and her poetic songs - of journeys taken, words unspoken and dreams long broken - have lingered in our collective consciousness since she burst onto the contemporary folk-rock music scene some three decades ago.

Those deeply personal songs, intense yet accessible, and that disarmingly girlish, breathy voice - evocative of youth, discovery and a strong sense of self - were displayed to full effect when Vega played to an appreciative audience at the Esplanade Recital Studio earlier this week, during the opening gig of an Asian tour.

Her pared-down storytelling-in-song style was wholly appropriate to the venue, an intimate space with virtually no props, just superior acoustics where Vega - assisted in no small way by guitarist Gerry Leonard - could connect with the crowd.