Susanna – ‘Meditations on Love’ album review: the dark side of Eros
THE SKINNY: Five years in the making, Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanna Wallumrød’s new avant-folk album, Meditations on Love, arrives just like a tin of Ronseal paint: difficult to consume in one go, but does exactly what it says on the tin. If you’ll bear with this analogy for one more second, the colour of this paint is undoubtedly black and it’s built to endure tough winters. With Susanna’s mostly solemn discography in mind, this is perhaps not much of a surprise. Still, this record brings some interesting nuances to the table.
The album’s merits lie mostly in the execution: Susanna’s haunting, pitch-perfect vocals perfectly suit the album’s mystical tone. If the melodies ever risk becoming too bright, she is careful to bring the tone down with dejection, either in the lyrics themselves or the slow, spacious delivery. Between crescendos of intensity and vocal flourishes, Susanna makes great use of silence in between.
Another strong string to the album’s bow is a wonderful platter of instrumentation arranged by Susanna in collaboration with an expansive cast of collaborators, including Jenny Hval, Bonnie ʻPrinceʼ Billy and, of course, producer Juhani Silvola. Like much of her previous successful output, Susanna uses a wealth of different instrumentals and synthesised sounds in an associative style that straddles the ground between jazz, downtempo and classical.
As the title suggests, the album is preoccupied with the theme of love, eros, to be precise. In keeping with Susanna’s associative sonic mood, these ten tracks do not run up the street clicking their heels in sexual satisfaction. Instead, they mostly respond to the challenges posited by romantic relationships. Though we can expect little more under such a title, the lyrics become somewhat monotonous, despite the album showing few weaknesses when each song is taken on its merits.
For fans of: Kitchen-sink dramas, leftfield music festivals and Alain de Botton’s weekly podcast.
A concluding comment from BBC Radio 6 Music’s most avid listener: “This plays into my eclectic and, dare I say it, esoteric tastes. J’aime beaucoup!”
‘Meditations on Love’ track by track:
Release Date: August 23rd | Producer: Juhani Silvola | Label: SusannaSonata
‘Everyone Knows’: This dark, jazzy number sets the album off on an enticing precedent. It is clear that the Meditations on Love will be at least partly a reaction to a lost love. Susanna’s lyrics are desperate and incensed as she asks, “How can I go on?” [4/5]
‘Big Dreams’: A bright synth arpeggio brings a nuance of positivity to proceedings. Though the lyrical delivery is somewhat ethereal and haunting, the message is optimistic: “I Have big dreams for you.” [3.5/5]
‘Leave Behind’: This song is beautifully composed with several enveloping instruments advancing over one another, weaving a strange landscape representative of Susanna’s well-established outlook. Her voice and the unconventional beat reach a resonant intensity before petering into more cinematic scapes. [4/5]
‘I Took Care of Myself’: Over a more imposing, emotionless synth line, thai track hears a more intense vocal performance from Susanna. The advancing beat is relentless and heightens anxiety, just as the lyrics intend. [3.5/5]
‘Black Heart’: In yet another macabre composition, Susanna’s amiable vocal breaks like light through the darkness. She addresses a past or present partner in a spacious, fraught progression, comparing their heart with the opacity of night. [3.5/5]
‘Elephant Song’: A dynamic bassline is performed on the piano while jazzy intrusions. This sonic signature is more optimistic but is juxtaposed by the lyrics as Susanna sings of insomnia and, like a pint-sized Morrissey, adds: “My heart open to sorrow and misery” [3/5]
‘Battles’: The lovelorn anguish and romantic tension expressed earlier in the album seem to reach a fever pitch in this song as “battle” commences. In citing battles of both “love” and “power”, Susanna seems to allude also to wider conflict in the world as the chorus sections take on a militant tone. [3.5/5]
‘A Swallow’: This one meets the ear like one of those dark nursery rhymes of yore. Like ‘Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses’, the lyric is playful and melodic, but the subtext is mournful and unsmiling, like much of the record. [3/5]
‘Where Has the Love Gone’: In another rumination on love, or lack thereof, Susanna bemoans the absence of love, asking the titular question. The instrumentals are bold, spacious and alluring but bring very little new to the album’s palette. [3/5]
‘I Was Never Here’: Closing the album on a decidedly creepy note, a familiar clattering beat finds itself flanked by ghostly instrumentation. Susanna claims that she could have been in the addressee’s dreams, bed and embrace, “except” she “was never here”. If I were to place a spectral concept on the album, this would be the shocking denouement wherein the audience realises everything wasn’t quite what it seemed. [4/5]
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