Coincidentally, the Oslo, Norway-based singer/songwriter Susanne Sundfor’s backstory parallels that of fellow singer/songwriter Nanna Øland Fabricius, best known under the moniker of Oh Land, in the sense that they both got into music later than most artists. In the case of Sundfor, she first got singing lessons when she was 12 and was briefly a member of the acclaimed Norwegian act Hypertext before she decided to pursue a solo career. Interestingly, Sundfor has publicly claimed that she didn’t feel as though she came into her own as an artist until the writing and eventual release of her third full-length effort, The Brothel, as she eventually found her own sound – a sound that bears a resemblance to Kate Bush, Tori Amos and several others.
Released last week, Sundfor’s latest album, Ten Love Songs may arguably be the Norwegian singer/songwriter’s most pop-orientated effort to date, as it draws from the influence of M83, Royskopp, Jaga Jazzist, and the Trondheimsolistene Chamber Ensemble — all of which Sundfor has collaborated with at some point.
“Fade Away” is the latest single (and video) from the album and it’s a super slick pop song comprised of dense layers of pulsating synths and soaring keys paired with Sundfor’s equally soaring vocals. Interestingly, while “Delirious” sounded as though it could have been a Kate Bush or Peter Gabriel single, “Fade Away” reminds me more of Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” and of Little Boots, thanks in particular to those pulsating synths; however, a sense of despair over a relationship that has drifted apart with the narrator realizing that this may be the time to let go belies the soaring nature of the song.
The official video is shot in a murky fog and features a number of professional looking covered in dust running away from a disaster. Chaos and confusion abounds as firefighters are running to the scene and Sundfor’s character seems to calmly walks through the scene with a calm, eerie detachment, only stopping to pick up a lost teddy bear. It’s a video with a surreal, dream-like logic.
