Love is undoubtedly the number one subject for pop songs. Of these, the dominant themes are the euphoric rush of early love or the bitter remonstrances of break-up songs. Norwegian composer, Susanna’s, latest album ‘Meditations on Love’ takes a slightly different approach with a focus on the challenges of maintaining a relationship. With a trilogy of releases behind her inspired by the work of Charles Baudelaire, she brings a poetic sensibility to her songs and is renowned for her orchestral collaborations. However, ‘Meditations on Love’ sees her adding a rhythmic complexity to her sound with the help of Juhani Silvola, a Finnish-Norwegian producer. It is often the tiny embellishments and idiosyncrasies, there are certainly no four-to-the-floor beats present, that are added to the ten songs that make them especially thrilling and elevate them beyond her earlier recordings.
Not all the songs, though, are stuck in the middle of a relationship. The opening track, ‘Everyone Knows’, is located in the vulnerability of leaving with Susanna’s clear, honeyed vocals pleading, “How can I go on, without you” while snaking clarinet lines, prepared piano and percussive flourishes give it great zest. In contrast, ‘Big Dreams’, places itself in the early optimistic stages of proceedings, perhaps hopes based on imaginings rather than reality, all set to the slow, steady pulse of synths with little bursts of squawking sax and percussive sounds to add emphasis. ‘Leave Behind’ journeys from hope to weary betrayal, its short travel propelled by lavish orchestration and timpani. It is a particular highlight.
The dramatic synths and percussion of ‘I Took Care of Myself’ makes a neat counterpoint to the repetitive nursery rhyme quality to its lyrics (“I got up and left / weeh wai weeh wai / I took care of myself / weeh wai weeh wai”). There is a distinct echo of Angelo Badalamenti’s work on ‘Twin Peaks’ to ‘Black Heart’ in its deliberate pacing and dark echoes, a song in which the fearful atmosphere is all important but does not forget the importance of a prominent vocal melody.
The diverse influences on ‘Meditations on Love’ are emphasised by the opening to ‘Elephant Song’ with the sort of fluttering sax lines that would be central to Ethiopian jazz and piano being used in a manner that is more rhythmic than melodic. It is a song of anxiety as Susanna recounts struggles with her breathing, sleeping, speaking but finds release at the close with the acceptance that “we don’t know what will happen in the end”.
‘Battles’ returns to high drama with a grandiosity to the synths and orchestration as she describes the battles of power, friendship and vows, although the instrumentation takes a gentler turn to mirror her asking, “Will you be seeking something to soothe”.
The lyrics to ‘A Swallow’ have a folk song quality with its repetition of “Hey-ho hey-ho hey-ho” after each line and observations such as “A hunter shot me with his dart”, although its understated instrumentation and rhythm coming from plucked strings gives it an entirely different quality.
The final two tracks appropriately place themselves at the end of a relationship. ‘Where Has The Love Gone’ spends most of its time dominated by staccato synths and strings before turning into a lavish ballad with a grand melodic ending as she rediscovers hope (“Wrapped in a velvet night / The heart feels untied / Daring daring soul / Daring daring heart.”) The distant percussion and discrete woodwind of ‘I Was Never Here’ adds to the song’s sense of reflection and what could have been.
Throughout, ‘Meditations on Love’ is a charming and provocative collection that adds its own worthwhile slant to the dialogue about amore that has dominated music. More importantly, the quality of the music which runs the gamut from subtle to grandiose, is outstanding.
Susanna: Meditations on Love – Out 23rd August 2024 (Susanna Sonata)
‘Everyone Knows’ Official Music Video (youtube.com)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
