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Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, "3"
The duo of Susanna Wallumrød and Morten Qvenild are finally back with a new album but with some disconcerting stylistic changes. While there are still a handful of excellent songs strewn about, the "magical" moments are now locked in a mortal struggle with "early Sarah McLachlan-esque" ones (made infinitely more confusing and improbable by the production involvement of Deathprod's Helge Sten). I fear for where this project is headed.
Susanna has written and performed some stunning music over the years, and the one thing that always made her so special was the unique vulnerability and intensity that she always brought to the material (original and otherwise). Consequently, it is difficult to understand why she takes such a cool and detached stance on 3. I suspect this new aesthetic might result in more mainstream appeal (particularly the first single, “Palpatine’s Dream”), but a lot of the tracks sound like a muted and subtly electronic approximation of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (admittedly an objectively decent album) albeit lacking McLachlan’s warmth or skill at writing memorable hooks.
Notably, this album is made up almost entirely of original songs, as many of Susanna’s past highlights have been covers (Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” springs immediately to mind). That said, the two covers that are included hearken most strongly back to the more disturbing Susanna of old: a sparse, bleak, and unsettling piano performance of Roy Harper’s “Another Day” and a weirdly lurching, dystopian, and robotic take on Rush’s “Subdivisions.” Of course, she has written some memorably torchy/noirish originals in the past as well, but her new songs take a very conspicuous step away from that darkness. There are several songs that flirt with catching fire, such as “Guiding Star,” “Someday,” and “Game,” but unabashedly toothless, poppy choruses invariably sabotage them.
There is very little edge or bite to 3. For the most part, Morten Qvenild does an admirable job with the music (resembling Gary Numan on horse tranquilizers yet in a good way), but it is usually too understated to compensate for the cool shallowness of the vocals (they’ve certainly achieved elegance, but it was a Pyrrhic victory). With the exception of the rather charming electro pop of “Palpatine’s Dream,” the duo’s dabblings in slick pop music are a bit too unrewarding and uneven for me (although I have noticed that this album has inexplicably gotten some rave reviews from the British music press, so perhaps my ears are defective). Hopefully, this is merely a transitional album on the way to something better and not a new direction. I am disappointed, but not yet resigned.
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