By Bona Pjarren
“They say I was a broken woman, they say it was a rainy day. They say it was a mad world out there. Dog eat dog, everything was dying. But that is not what I remember…” This is how Susanne Sundfør announced her sixth album, ‘blómi’, to be released at the end of this month. She went on to say: “I want this album to be an antidote to the darkness that dominates our culture today. I want to show that there’s another way to see reality, if one dares to take the leap of hoping for a more beautiful world.
Five years after Sundfør redefined her career with the folk-inspired ‘Music For People In Trouble’, the Norwegian musician, artist and producer delves even deeper into her personal mythology on this latest release. Meaning “to bloom” in Norse, ‘blómi’ takes very unique aspects of Susanne’s life story, like the academic work of her grandfather who is a linguist specializing in Semitic languages, and her own life-changing experiences as a new mother, to weave together a colourful tapestry unlike anything she has released to date. Sundfør wrote ‘blómi’, above all, as a love letter to her young daughter, a missive to a precious new life entering an unstable world. In the title track, Susanne imparts all her wisdom to her daughter, urging her to take her words with her through life. Pairing her lyrics with hints of Norse language and mythology, Susanne harks to indigenous Nordic cultures who built matrilineal societies and worshipped divine feminine deities. These roots, this passing from mother to child, is at the core of the music on ‘blómi’.
Well that’s the label info covered so on to the review.
Opener ‘orð vǫlu’ is a spoken word introduction track with atmospheric strains of avant-garde music. Strange and enigmatic, it is an unusual piece. ‘Ashera’s Song’ is darkly ethereal and haunting in its composition. Susanne’s vocals are otherworldly and captivating.
‘Blómi’ is next up and is more contemporary in its approach. A piano driven ballad style song with soulful saxophone. It is more mainstream in its composition. ‘Rūnā’ switches to acoustic guitar as the main instrument. It is another emotional ballad which builds into a floating laid back piece of music, full of light and shade.
‘Fare Thee Well is another ballad full of reflection and, as with the last two tracks, a slightly retro feel. Easy listening to kick back and relax to. One of the two singles made available in advance of the release, ‘Leikara Ljóð’ introduces itself with lone vocals accompanied by birdsong developing into some beautiful harmonies and hand claps. It has almost a spiritual feel to it while being one of the more uptempo tracks on the album. Deeply moving it builds and develops with each bar. The abrupt change into something akin to jazz folk at the end is a bit of a surprise.
‘Alyosha’ is soulful and magical in its unhurried approach. We are again back to a more contemporary retro style ballad it is welcoming and very listenable. ‘sānnu yārru lī’ takes us back to a more experimental tribal approach as demonstrated by the first track. There are also jazz style instrumentals punctuating spoken word vocals.
‘Náttsǫngr’ or ‘Night Song’ is a piano driven ballad with some pleasant musical twists. It is sung in English so not sure why she used a Norwegian title. Nice track though. ‘Orð Hjartans’ is the final track of the album and is back to being experimental, blending white noise with other atmospheric incidentals in a haunting way. It gives way to a final short spoken word piece.
So, to conclude: Susanne Sundfør has a rare talent for combining experimental jazz elements with contemporary haunting predominantly ballad driven music. Soulful and delicate in its approach, it is an album both very intimate and knowable yet full off surprises. It is very listenable with lots of lasting melodies. ‘Blómi’ is well worth a listen.
- ‘Blómi‘ is released on Friday 28 April.
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