Ionnalee’s Bilingual Gambit to Hear the End of Every Song
Ionnalee has electronic LPs under multiple monikers, but she uncovers her full songwriting prowess by dropping a double-album split between English and Swedish.
Scandipop
Susanna Distills Life with ‘Meditations on Love’
Norway’s Susanna aims to distill the world and bring it down to a set of uncomfortable truths on this album. Love will tear us apart again and again.
‘Voulez Vous’: ABBA’s Poptimist Manifesto at 45
On Voulez Vous, ABBA went disco and created a turbo-charged version of their music. The raucous choruses of Voulez Vouz preview a decade of pop.
Winona Oak’s ‘Island of the Sun’ Is Heartbreak Enveloped in Intoxicating Synths
Winona Oak’s Island of the Sun scores stories of sorrow and anguish with a thrilling cornucopia of sounds that practically spill in luscious waves.
No Suits in Miami Go .38 Special Scandinavian Style
By pumping things up with a classic 1980s arena aesthetic, No Suits in Miami’s Nothing Ever Happens radiates enough summery intensity for tape-deck cruisers to savor.
ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ Is More Than Pretty Good
ABBA have pulled off a very good reunion album with Voyage despite the odds and expectations. The bar remains where they left it nearly 40 years ago.
Swedish Dream-Poppers ViVii Deliver a “Smackdown”
Swedish pop trio ViVii play the dreamiest of dream pop with pristine melodies, gossamer harmonies, and enthralling textures.
“Cold in the Warm”: An Interview with iamamiwhoami
iamiwhoami’s Jonna Lee opens up about the project’s development, its future, and the two albums she scrapped along the way to making the stunning blue.
Susanna: Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos
Before you listen to these 12 songs, you might want to consider your context. One sunny afternoon, the album’s lack of tangible tempo and overwhelming spaciousness nearly ground my day to a halt. But on a cloudy Sunday morning, these skeletal and sonorous sketches enveloped me warmly. In Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos, Norway native Susanna Karolina Wallumrød has crafted a solo effort comprised of her own compositions instead of the cover tunes favored on the most recent release with her band, Susanna and her Magical Orchestra.
Certainly, this record’s most lasting impression is of Susanna’s haunting voice, which is subtly accompanied by nine musicians on theremin, slide guitars, mellotron, and memorymoog. The harp-led “Hangout” echoes Joanna Newsom’s instrumental palate, while “Demon Dance” affirms the quiet strength of Susanna’s voice. The piano-and-bass-led “People Living” eschews a strong melody in favor of the vocalist’s enunciation of a few phrases. Interestingly, Susanna achieves the most striking impact in “Home Recording”, which features only her voice and her guitar. The landscape created by these 48 minutes is not a wholly distinctive or sonically-varied vista, but it is one of serene and delicate beauty.