Norwegian songwriter, vocal interpreter and producer Susanna has been active for more than a decade releasing eight albums under the names Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, Susanna, and Susanna Wallumrød. Known for her own songwriting and her highly personal interpretations of other people’s songs, including Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Joy Division, Scott Walker, and KISS, Susanna is an intensely arresting performer, holding audiences captive with her hypnotizing vocal timbre and the powerful, all consuming sound of her band. Her forthcoming album and first full-length release on her own label, SusannaSonata, is The Forester, a co-production with the Norwegian contemporary music group, Ensemble neoN. Featuring new arrangements of new and already released songs by Susanna, The Forester captures her composition, and all the nuances of her distinctive voice in neoN’s deceptively simple chamber-folk tapestry, combining the antique notes of the Baroque theorbo, woodwinds and strings, and Susanna’s sparse piano. The result is in an eerily exquisite canvas that recalls Mark Hollis, Tim Buckley, Kate Bush and Claude Debussy while remaining uniquely Susanna’s soundworld. Today, Susanna shares a glimpse of this soundworld via The Forester’s “Oh, I Am Stuck,” of which she says, “The feeling of being stuck in a situation is such a frustrating state of mind, but also a quite fascinating process to try and break the circle – right at the point where the paralyzation starts vanishing and the will to break loose sets in.”
LISTEN TO/SHARE SUSANNA AND ENSEMBLE NEON’S “OH, I AM STUCK” –
SUSANNA TOUR DATES:
Sun. Sep. 22 — Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød ‘If Grief Could Wait’ @ Konvergencie Festival, St. Martin’s Cathedral Bratislava, SK
Tue. Sep. 24 — Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød ‘If Grief Could Wait’ @ Düsseldorf Festival Maxhaus, Düsseldorf, DE
Wed. Oct. 2 — Susanna sings Gunvor Hofmo @ Josefine Vertshus, Oslo, NO
Thu. Oct. 3 — Susanna sings Gunvor Hofmo @ Høstscena Festival, Ålesund, NO
Fri. Oct. 4 — Susanna sings Gunvor Hofmo @ Bergen Bibliotek, Bergen, NO
Sat. Oct. 5 — Susanna sings Gunvor Hofmo @ Musikkavdelinga, Trondheim, NO
Sat. Oct. 12 — Susanna @ Jazz & the City, Salzburg, AT
Fri. Oct. 18 — Susanna and Ensemble neoN release concert @ Victoria National Jazzscene, Oslo, NO
Fri. Nov. 15 — Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød @ Kulturforum Fürth, Nürnberg, DE
Sun. Nov. 17 — Susanna (matiné concert at 11:00) @ Handelsbeurs Theatre, Gent, BE
Sun. Nov. 17 — Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød @ Handelsbeurs Theatre, Gent, BE
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“Who knew starkly profound morbidity could sound so gorgeous?” — Pitchfork
“[Susanna’s] simplicity can be considered studied. In a way, the song isn’t even a showcase for lyrics as much as it is the timbres of the human voice, and the minute sonic space between the harmonies.” – Ad Hoc
“limpid-voiced, open-hearted, musically idiosyncratic and touched with mystery.” – The New York Times
“Beautiful, spare, hypnotic.” – MOJO
“Wallumrød sings with dazzling clarity and exquisite patience, shaping melodies with care and sensitivity and tightly controlling her emotional engagement with the material. . . ” – Chicago Reader