Suzanne Vega

Wed., Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., $35, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.

by M.J. Fine

rock/pop

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Reticence has always been Suzanne Vega's thing; it's what makes her such a masterful observer. Even when singing from the perspective of an abused child ("Luka"), a patient in crisis ("Blood Makes Noise") or a recent divorcée ("Widow's Walk"), she's always maintained a critical detachment. So it's startling to hear "Bound," from her new album, Beauty & Crime (Blue Note). It's just so vulnerable. "The way of the world has taken its toll/ Ravaged my body and bitten my soul," she sings. "And I ask/ I am asking you/ Asking you if you might still want me." There's a great story behind those lines: Paul Mills proposed to her when she was 23, and it took another 23 years until she was ready for him. Vocally, Vega keeps her cool — she prefers to let strings and synth drive the drama — but you know her understated delivery is a front for the emotions roiling just below the surface. Elsewhere, she sings of passion and cosmetic surgery, raising a daughter and tending a plant, New York before and after 9/11. It's all very lovely, but nearly 23 years into Vega's recording career, "Bound" reveals another dimension.

Wed., Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., $35, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.