Best of 2015: 30. Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs
1/02/2016 02:45:00 PM
This is maximalist pop at its finest. In an alternate universe, Susanne Sundfør's voice is filling stadiums and her songs are racing to the top of the charts, I'm sure of it. She's spent her last couple of albums experimenting with the fusion of baroque and electronic elements and, in the process, sharpening her songcraft to a slick and precise point. Ten Love Songs is the dazzling, breathless culmination of these efforts. It's also one of the most exciting pop releases of the year that hardly anyone seems to be talking about.
The album's biggest strength is Sundfør's confidence in her own vision: she's never afraid to go all out and delights in pushing every song to its sonic limit. At the same time, she has the necessary control to pull back when one threatens to tumble over the edge into complete chaos. The Norwegian songstress skillfully weaves classical flourishes of piano, strings, organ, and harpsichord into her ominously thick electronic soundscapes of synthesizers and drum machines, which are so polyphonic that they cycle back into Sundfør's baroque influences, creating an impressively structured web of sound. Of course, all of this relies on the songs having solid bones, which they do: Sundfør's compositions are so full of unexpected twists of melody and immediately infectious hooks that they shine like gemstones. Her rich, expressive vocals lift them even higher, until they become positively soaring, despite the often heavy content of their lyrics.
"Darlings," consisting of organ and voice only, unfolds like a classical prelude, the calm before the electronic storm, until its nearly choral finale transitions unexpectedly into the regimented electronic pulse of "Accelerate," which is incredibly catchy (listen to that interplay of organ and synths!) but is only a glimmer of what's to come. "Fade Away" and "Delirious" are flawless pop songs, with amphitheater-sized choruses and harmonies to die for; as dark as their lyrics can be ("I hope you've got a safety net/Because I'm gonna push you over the edge"), they are open and playful in a way that makes them easy to return to. The centerpiece - literally - is "Memorial," an ambitious ten-minute epic that sits squarely in the middle of the album. It's a risky move, but it pays off tremendously, beginning as a subtle and hypnotic ballad that slowly builds into a gorgeous electronic swell then transitions seamlessly into a cinematic sweep of strings and piano.
If it's so satisfying, why is Ten Love Songs "only" at position number 30? It's a good question that I honestly can't answer. I guess it boils down to the fact that it's just one of many stellar albums that came out in 2015. At some point, I had to come up with a ranking and stick to it. However, that doesn't mean this album comes any less highly recommended than the 29 others that outrank it.
The album's biggest strength is Sundfør's confidence in her own vision: she's never afraid to go all out and delights in pushing every song to its sonic limit. At the same time, she has the necessary control to pull back when one threatens to tumble over the edge into complete chaos. The Norwegian songstress skillfully weaves classical flourishes of piano, strings, organ, and harpsichord into her ominously thick electronic soundscapes of synthesizers and drum machines, which are so polyphonic that they cycle back into Sundfør's baroque influences, creating an impressively structured web of sound. Of course, all of this relies on the songs having solid bones, which they do: Sundfør's compositions are so full of unexpected twists of melody and immediately infectious hooks that they shine like gemstones. Her rich, expressive vocals lift them even higher, until they become positively soaring, despite the often heavy content of their lyrics.
"Darlings," consisting of organ and voice only, unfolds like a classical prelude, the calm before the electronic storm, until its nearly choral finale transitions unexpectedly into the regimented electronic pulse of "Accelerate," which is incredibly catchy (listen to that interplay of organ and synths!) but is only a glimmer of what's to come. "Fade Away" and "Delirious" are flawless pop songs, with amphitheater-sized choruses and harmonies to die for; as dark as their lyrics can be ("I hope you've got a safety net/Because I'm gonna push you over the edge"), they are open and playful in a way that makes them easy to return to. The centerpiece - literally - is "Memorial," an ambitious ten-minute epic that sits squarely in the middle of the album. It's a risky move, but it pays off tremendously, beginning as a subtle and hypnotic ballad that slowly builds into a gorgeous electronic swell then transitions seamlessly into a cinematic sweep of strings and piano.
If it's so satisfying, why is Ten Love Songs "only" at position number 30? It's a good question that I honestly can't answer. I guess it boils down to the fact that it's just one of many stellar albums that came out in 2015. At some point, I had to come up with a ranking and stick to it. However, that doesn't mean this album comes any less highly recommended than the 29 others that outrank it.
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