Susanna

Triangle is soul music for lost souls. Susanna’s eleventh album and first solo record since 2012 is a mastodon of a singer/songwriter release — over 70 minutes of intensely expressive, deeply felt and spiritually probing lyrics, presented and performed in layers of voice, electronics, and effects, programmed with piano, violin and tuba. The artist known for personal interpretations of songs by Joy Division, Leonard Cohen and AC/DC among others but also her strong originals, has dissected her own musical expression, collaborations and projects, and put the pieces together again creating a unique and diverse world for her songs.

Triangle re-examines Susanna’s relationship with spirituality, belief and superstition. Throughout, Susanna is in intimate, confessional mode, facing uncertainty and mystery, pondering how much of a place humanity deserves on a faltering planet, while confidently forging her own path and confronting doubt, fear and nihilism with a sense of wonder. Deeply Nordic in its willingness to confront existential darkness head-on, yet with a contemporary sound signature, Triangle is filled with magical omens, apocalyptic fires, black holes and floodwaters that constantly threaten oblivion. Yet among the dark undercurrents, electronic rumbling and white noise is a luminous melodic glow that rises above the introspection.

Recorded in Oslo and Los Angeles, Triangle was composed, arranged, performed, recorded and produced by Susanna. Norwegian musicians, including Supersilent, Broen, Moskus, Splashgirl and Sudan Dudan participated, alongside Americans Alison Chesley (Helen Money) and Emmett Kelly (The Cairo Gang).

Throughout the entire album, Susanna’s vocals are even more versatile and fluid, recalling at times Kate Bush, the Laurel Canyon balladry of Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro, or the acrobatics of the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser. Debut single “Burning Sea” presents the sound of wonder and danger in surrendering; Susanna’s voice is calm and determined in the face of enormous forces and looming fears.