released in July 2011 followed by Vol. 4 (Songs of Family) in September 2012. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of the Close-Up albums included previously unrecorded material; Volumes 2 and 3 each included one new collaboratively written song, while Volume 4 included three songs that Vega had written years earlier, but had not previously gotten around to recording. In all, Vega's Close-Up series features 60 re-recorded songs and five new compositions, representing about three-quarters of her lifetime songwriting output. While performing live, Vega and long-term collaborator Gerry Leonard began to introduce a number of new songs into the setlist, including the live favorite "I Never Wear White". Over the course of a year, the songs were completed and recorded in a live-studio setting with the help of a number of guests. Produced by Leonard, Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles was released in February 2014. It was her first album of new material in seven years and became Vega's first studio album to reach the UK Top 40 since 1992, peaking at No. 37. Vega's ninth studio album, Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, was released on October 14, 2016. 2020s In February and March 2023, Vega will be touring the UK. Songwriting At the age of nine she began to write poetry. She was encouraged to do so by her stepfather. It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine", which was finished at the age of 14. It was first published on Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family (2012), along with her other early song, "The Silver Lady". Vega has not learned to read musical notes; she sees the melody as a shape and chords as colors. She focuses on lyrics and melodic ideas; for advanced features – like intros or bridges – she relies on other artists with whom she works. Most of her albums, except the first one, were made in such cooperation. Vega finishes 80% of the songs she starts writing. She got the melody of "Tom's Diner" while walking down Broadway in New York. She was thinking of French New Wave films. The most important artistic influences on her work come from Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Some other important artists for her are Paul Simon and Laura Nyro. Theater Vega and Duncan Sheik wrote a play Carson McCullers Talks About Love, about