The Teutonic singer Ute Lemper, channeler of everyone from Kurt Weill to Tom Waits via a Dietrich-derived persona, has come far since her debut in a Viennese production of Cats�all the way to New York. A local since 1997 (though not quite yet a citizen), Lemper has had a busy year (Central Park Delacorte Theatre, the Neue Galerie, Carnegie Hall). Between her homebody schedule and the demands of motherhood, the singer recently described as �compelling and a little scary� seems gleefully mellowed. Boris Kachka talked to her as she geared up for a six-week run at Caf� Carlyle, from January 14 through February 26.

What can we expect from your new show, Blood and Feathers?
It�s kind of a poetic title for the dialectic of the evening. There are the glamorous songs�the entertainment, the game. And then there is the blood, which means the more political songs, the songs which dig a little deeper, bring out the poetry, the provocation. There�s a whole contemporary repertoire including my own songs and other stuff�Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell. And then of course we have the whole Weill repertoire, the Jacques Brel, the Edith Piaf.

Are these the blood or the feathers?
I don�t know whether it�s going to be 50-50; I have to see. I might change that from evening to evening, depending on how much blood the audience can take.

You often talk about the political component of the Weimar Republic songs you do. Are you including any contemporary political songs?
Contemporary political songs�what is that? That genre doesn�t exist! No, I would pick the songs which even though they might be written 80 years ago, they would have a lot to do with today�s world. They are antiwar songs, songs searching for humanity, for a society of justice�songs which are completely applicable in today�s world, certainly a world that after the last election is moralistically regressing on this continent.

Did the election make you feel uncomfortable living here?
No, not at all. I mean, I love New York; New York is different. Outside of New York, the further you go, there is kind of a deep provinciality, but you can feel that in all the countries outside the big cities.

How does it feel to represent Old Europe to an American audience?
Well, first of all, I don�t know whether I am so European. I�m so open right now and I live here for so many years. And my musicians are from New York, my kids are little New Yorkers, and my life is definitely happening here.

Where do you write your songs?
The words come to me sometimes after reading a newspaper article. I live on the Upper West Side, and I run around a lot. I like to sing in the streets, actually. If you were doing that in Germany, you would be considered crazy, but here everyone sings in the streets!