Susanne Sundfør

Susanne Aartun Sundfør (born 19 March 1986) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She is the granddaughter of linguist Kjell Aartun. She was born in Haugesund and later moved to Oslo.^[1] She has released five studio albums. Two of which, The Brothel (2010) and The Silicone Veil (2012), have reached number one in Norway. Her fifth, Ten Love Songs, was released on 16 February 2015.

Career

When Sundfør was 12 she started taking singing lessons.^[2] After attending a music high school, Sundfør began making music as a hobby.^[3] Her first release was the 2006 single "Walls", which peaked at number three in the Norwegian singles chart. Her debut self-titled album was released in 2007 and peaked at number three in the Norwegian album chart. The album's second and last single "I Resign" was released in 2007.

In January 2008, Sundfør covered Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" at Store Studio, NRK.^[4] The following month, she was awarded Spellemannprisen for best female performance. She spurred nationwide debate when she, upon receiving the prize, said, "I am first and foremost an artist, not first and foremost a woman". By this, she was referring to a chauvinist introduction of the 2008 female nominees in the context of an ongoing debate whether having a gender-differentiated "artist of the year" prize was archaic or not.^[5] That same month, Sundfør appeared with a track on Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway's album Sorgen og Gleden (The Sorrow and the Joy). Sundfør's contribution was the Norwegian folktune/psalm "Ingen Vinner Frem til Den Evige Ro" (No One Reaches the Eternal Calm), by Lars Linderot and Gustav Jensen.^[6]

In 2010, her third album The Brothel was released to great acclaim in Norway, and ended up becoming the second bestselling album of the year, grossing over 40,000 copies. Dagbladet, a daily Norwegian newspaper, wrote that Sundfør was so good that other young Norwegian artists would start crying when hearing her—both because she is several leagues above them, but also because her music is so moving and beautiful.^[7][8][9] It was at this time that Sundfør decided to commit to music as a profession. She said in an 2013 interview, "I think I only decided that this is something that I wanted to spend my entire life doing after I released The Brothel, because that was the first time I really felt like I had 'found' a sound."^[3]

Sundfør officially joined the band Hypertext in 2010 and appeared on Real Ones' single "Sister to All".

She provided vocals for the track "Baboon Moon" on Nils Petter Molvær's album Baboon Moon in 2011.

In 2012, The Silicone Veil, Sundfør's fifth album, was released, first in Norway then several months later in the United Kingdom. This was followed by an EP in 2013 also titled The Silicone Veil, featuring three songs.

On 6 December 2012, Sundfør released a collaboration with the Norwegian electronica duo Röyksopp in Norway, "Running to the Sea", which reached No.1.^[10] They performed the song at Lydverket on 28 November 2012, as well as a cover of "Ice Machine" by Depeche Mode.^[11] The track is featured on the album The Inevitable End.^[1]

Sundfør collaborated with French electronic/shoegaze band M83 on the soundtrack for the 2013 film Oblivion. The album was released on 9 April 2013 and features the title song "Oblivion" with Sundfør contributing the main vocals.^[12] Later that month, Sundfør's back catalog was released for the first time in the United Kingdom to positive critical response.^[13] In June 2013, Sundfør remixed Maps' single "A.M.A".^[14] Sundfør also produced the single "Darkness" by Bow to Each Other, which was released on iTunes 8 November 2013.^[15]

Her sixth album Ten Love Songs was released in February 2015.^[16] Sundfør began a European tour to coincide with the album in March at Scala, London.^[17]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Featured in

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Susanne Sundfør.

External links

• Official website