Viva la Vega!

She's in the middle of a UK tour, she's about to release a new album Retrospective and she's due to part company with the record label she's been with for 19 years.

Besides all that, she has to organise a birthday celebration for her daughter Ruby who is nine next week, three days before Suzanne herself turns 44.

"It's the first of Ruby's birthdays we've spent apart," says Suzanne, slightly wistfully. "She's away at camp at the moment, playing baseball, and we're keeping in touch by phone and e-mail.

"But I'll be home a week after her birthday, so I'll see her then."

Meanwhile, Suzanne herself is reaching a crossroads of a different kind.

After 19 years with the A&M record label, which released some of her best-loved tracks like Tom's Diner, Luka and Marlene on the Wall, her contract is about to come to an end and Suzanne has no clear idea about what she's doing next.

Her new album, which incorporates most of her best-known work is in part, Suzanne says, to do with reaching this crossroads.

"I thought it would be a good way of revisiting the work I have done," she said. "I'm not sure what I'll do next. I'll have to go home and sort out the options. It's exciting, but it's scary as well. There's something very secure about being with the same record company for 19 years.

"The music industry is a different world from when I first got signed up, but in some ways it's better for artists now. For example, you can go and set up your own company and there are new ways of distribution, like the internet.

"I'm not sure if I will do that myself. I might lose some of my audience. I need to figure it out."

Touring is something Suzanne has mixed feelings about.

Having played at Manchester Academy last night, she agrees the connection with her fans is important.

"You can see these big, burly men singing along to tracks like Small Blue Thing," she laughed. "You just can't tell by outside appearances what someone might be feeling inside."

And Suzanne must be one of the only internationally-renowned artists to give Belgium as their favourite country.

"I love the way they all sing along to Tom's Diner," she said. "All audiences sing it, but in Belgium they go nuts. It's like a huge party."

However, there are other aspects of touring that Suzanne finds quite wearying.

"It's about keeping your stamina up and going on to the next gig," she said. "I really enjoy performing and going to different countries and feeling the differences in culture.

"But sometimes the travelling gets too much, especially if somebody gets sick, because you all get it."

One of the things that makes Suzanne's tracks so distinctive is their thought-provoking lyrics.

These, she says, are inspired by her stepfather, who was himself a writer.

"I used to share lots of my songs with him," she said.

"I was always quite nervous about that, because he was very strict about language, but he could always tell if I was telling the truth in my songs."

As a result, Suzanne's songs use a language that is simple, communicative and often surprising, particularly for the unexpected stories she chooses to tell.

"I feel that lyrics are where my strength is," she said. "My lyrics are inspired by a combination of real life and the more dreamy parts of life. There's a hard kernel of reality at the core, but other things make them shine a bit."

Suzanne herself has had to learn to shine as an artist. Growing up in New York, she was very shy when she first started performing and she said she had to learn how to speak to her audience.

"I was very uncomfortable with people looking at me," she said.

One of the people who helped her was her younger brother Tim, who sadly died last year.

"I do miss him, particularly because we used to go to concerts together," she said. "Now I find I'm buying a lot of music and not listening to it."

However, she hopes to take her daughter Ruby to concerts in a few years' time.

"She's only eight at the moment," she said. "But at some point we may go. It might be good for her!"