Suzanne Vega has unleashed her latest single “Rats” alongside a new music video directed by animator and filmmaker Martha Colburn. The release appropriately came out as New York was getting set to kick off its first annual Urban Rat Summit. 

Yes, you read correctly. The NYC summit is to “focus on a framework for urban rat mitigation challenges, encompassing parks, sewers, construction sites, public housing, yards and alleys, and trash containerization.”

“Rats” offers a unique meditation on New York City’s infamous rodent residents, while showcasing Suzanne Vega’s signature storytelling along with her connection to the city that has long inspired her work. The song, written by Vega, features music and production by her longtime collaborator and musical director, Gerry Leonard.

About the track Vega noted “I was talking to Jimmy Hogarth, the producer of my 2007 album Beauty and Crime. We were discussing who had seen the biggest rat. After that conversation, I kept reading about or hearing various rat stories, all of them true. I took careful note and set it all to music, inspired by The Ramones and Fontaines D.C.”

At the hands of filmmaker Martha Colburn, the music video for “Rats” is trippy, surreal, and fun. Colburn’s work, which often features stop-motion, puppetry, and collage, can also be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney.

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