1996 - At this point in her career, Suzanne has released as many as four albums and is recognized as one of the greatest songwriters of our times. But this is not enough for her. After her self-titled folk debut, the pop success of "Solitude Standing", the fragile "Days Of Open Hand", and the industrial heat of "99.9F", she wants to add new pieces to the puzzle.
Gone is the shyness, enough with stories of suicides and violence; Suzanne wants to make herself beautiful and captivating, and she does it with a new eclectic repertoire that draws from Latin-American music, jazz, bossanova, and continues the electronic experimentation begun with the previous album.
'Nine Objects of Desire'. Desire seems to be the key word to describe the new Suzy: desire, appetite, yearning. A yearning for rock in the opening 'Birthday', with wild blues organ and untamed vocal effect, and in 'No Cheap Thrills', with the catchy pop refrain. A yearning to dance with the jungle and tribal rhythms of 'Casual Match' and 'Lolita', enriched by Latin-flavored samples (including 'Oye Como Va' by Santana) and an excited and exciting, sinful voice like the colorful apple she holds on the cover.
The appetite tries to be satisfied in the whispered '50s bossanova of 'Caramel' <It won't do to dream of caramel..and long for you> and by contemplating a juicy fruit in the ethereal jazz of 'My Favorite Plum', with the vocal melody following a decadent blues guitar.
The eclecticism continues in the sparkling swing of 'Tombstone' and the brass lounge of 'Thin Man' - where the figure of death is fantasized as a gentleman not to accept romantic dates from! -
In all the lyrics, sensuality enriches the author's imagery, reaching its peak in the sapphic and Arabesque 'Stockings', but her moments of more classic songwriting aren't missing: the poppy 'Headshots' (a poster recalls a past love - but in the photo, there's a boy, not Marlene Dietrich), the ominous eeriness of 'Honeymoon Suite' (a medieval waltz in the style of Days Of Open Hand) and especially in the sweet, acoustic 'World Before Columbus'
Eclectic, lively, sexy, but also sweet and delicate.