I'm going to rank every Susanne Sundfør song ever

It’s COMING PEOPLE

(I sincerely hope some of you want this) :D
 
Ok so just to SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

  • I am only including songs written, recorded and sung by Susanne. That audiobook shite from the latest album where she talks for 3 minutes about what a heart looks like - nah, it's not making the cut. If she's singing, yes, we're good. With all due respect, whilst it IS still art - I don't think anyone became a fan of Susanne Sundfør due to her excellent ability to speak for 3 minutes over a xylophone.
  • Nothing where she's a guest / feature artist. Either she's the star, and she's responsible for all aspects from writing to production to vocals, or it's out.
  • So predominantly the source of material is comin from bodies of work in the form of albums although I am including some singing-songs from an EP too.
 
untilted said:
Ok so just to SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

  • I am only including songs written, recorded and sung by Susanne. That audiobook shite from the latest album where she talks for 3 minutes about what a heart looks like - nah, it's not making the cut. If she's singing, yes, we're good. With all due respect, whilst it IS still art - I don't think anyone became a fan of Susanne Sundfør due to her excellent ability to speak for 3 minutes over a xylophone.
  • Nothing where she's a guest / feature artist. Either she's the star, and she's responsible for all aspects from writing to production to vocals, or it's out.
  • So predominantly the source of material is comin from bodies of work in the form of albums although I am including some singing-songs from an EP too.
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OMG.

So no M83 or Royksopp?
 
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RIGHT.
64 songs.
If I've missed anything I profusely apologise, but I think I've got you covered.

Some of you may have tuned in for my Fiona ranking, and I will warn you - I can't legitimately gush at this entire collection in the same way and profess this is an immaculate collection of masterpieces! It isn't. There's a bit of shite, but once we get past that, I can assure you there aren't many artists who can reach the HIGHS of which we will collectively experience at the upper end of this list. :disco:

If any of you want to drop your own lists in, please do. I don't suspect you'll fancy doing it QUITE LIKE I AM (:D) but Top 10's or even some commentary on your favourites would be great.

Highly doubtful it'll be wrapped up tonight as in order for me to write about the songs at the top, I need to fully immerse myself and it can take some time as sometimes I get emotional etc. but alas yes, perhaps tomorrow!
 
jyxz said:
Final request…… Kleerup ‘Let me in”?
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It's in. Royksopp, M83, Kleerup. I don't think she's ever had any significant features outside of these BUT I'm happy to include these as it's the only real opportunity of catching her in an electronic space post Ten Love Songs. I highly doubt she'll make a record like that again as she absolutely seems to thrive off being a folk queen.
 
65 songs!! Final count.

65. Amor Est Mortis

Susanne does Enya I guess? Pretty high notes throughout but no actual words.

64. Blómi

Why am I ranking this one so low... hmm...

63. The Sound of War

AH! That's why. So Blómi is basically Diet Sound of War, and in this case she decided to give us 7 minutes of it. An interesting and delicate song, providing you're in the mood for it.

62. For The Kids

For The Kids finds an eerie charm somewhere in it's 4:40 runtime, with a fairly restrained performance from Susanne.

61. Ice Machine (Lost Tapes)

Susanne delivers a fairly unforgettable performance over what I can only describe as a serviceable slice of electro.

60. The Dance

When I first heard The Dance I kinda found it to be a bit Tracy Chapman esque, but with much bigger vocals (obviously). Do I still think that now? Not really... Either way, I don't mind it but just find it goes on a bit for what it is.

59. Torn To Pieces (On Roses)

An early cut of eerie melancholia from Su, before she truly began to flesh it out.
 
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Oh god, The Sound of War is too low for me. One of the few post Ten Love Songs tracks to hit the heights of her finest work.
 
59. No One Believes In Love Anymore

Hits much harder when you're feeling sad, otherwise it's a bit of a washout.

57. Rūnā

When beautiful and boring suddenly collide.

56. Lys

It's over in the blink of an eye but it's a good one to listen to during a nice summer walk.

55. Stop (Don't Push The Button)

Well there's lots of wailing from Su here, which is how I like her best but I really do find myself in the mood for it almost never.

54. Walls

Flawless performance here from our Norwegian goddess on the keys and vocally but the lyrics are a bit pathetic.

53. Bedtime Story

Bedtime story indeed. It doesn't rank TOO low however as I absolutely do enjoy the instrumentation throughout and her vocal performance.

52. Mantra

At her most tender, a deeply introspective and intimate song, the outro is sublime.

51.Trust Me

Has anybody ever seen Susanne perform Trust Me live? If you haven't please Youtube it. It's literally the best song she does live, she angrily sweats and screams her way through it every single time. The studio version? Well, it is almost fantastic but for me just isn't quite as good as what's above it.

50. The Mourning Sun

A great, euphoric track but Susanne's contribution here is on the minimal side.
 
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49. Diamonds

Did you perhaps need a stark warning for how good Ten Love Songs was going to be? Diamonds serves as a solid reminder of what she was capable of before we knew she was capable of it.

48. Lilith

Spooky Su activating her creepy side for 3:35 of controlled hysteria.

47. Moments

She's classically trained don't you know? Huge vocals throughout and a key change at the end.

46. When The Lord

A jaw-droppingly beautiful song which is so, so depressing.

45. Your Prelude

A sophisticated performance from Susanne's skilful piano playing and a wonderful crescendo.

44. Knight of Noir

One of her darkest tracks, complimented with a menacing, low vocal performance.

43. Rome

This is one of the tracks that actually got me into Su, so it'll always be one I'm fond of, but there's much to love here. A long run-time that's worth every second with Susanne tapping into a desperate emotion with urgency.

RANDOM place to stop but I think I've made a booboo with the numbering. I'll fix and all shall resume (probably tomorrow now)
 
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Sheena said:
Oh god, The Sound of War is too low for me. One of the few post Ten Love Songs tracks to hit the heights of her finest work.
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Sorry Shee, it's just not one I find myself in the mood for very much... I did watch her tour that album though and honestly much of the material came alive in that setting. MUCH better. I do enjoy the album a lot though overall.

And hey, at least it wasn't

60. Delirious

I imagine i'd be lynched off the forum :D
 
It's going to be weird writing about the song that's at number 1, considering it was the song I used to take MDMA to. But what can I say, it had such a profound impact on me I couldn't place it anywhere else. I began to listen to the song on occasion following my sobriety and although I don't listen to it very much, it absolutely shakes me to my core on those choice moments I decide I have an appetite for it.

But yes, more tomorrow!
 
42. Lene

Sadness and hopefulness. A simple song with boundless beauty.

41. Oh, Lover

A very solid and reliable Röyksopp collab which doesn't quite do enough to be an instant classic but certainly has the playability factor.

40. Tell Him

Susanne and Röyksopp tackle heartbreak on this sad tale, which of course gives us soaring Susanne vocals throughout.

39. Náttsǫngr

Those who pay close attention will have heard this track before it appeared on last years Blomi. Susanne has performed the track before so it was a nice surprise to hear it properly on the album. A beautiful ballad.

38. Gravity

Easily one of her most emotive tracks from her musical infancy with beautifully introspective lyrics. Oh gravity, come on make me heavy so I won't sing anymore!

37. Insects

The dark and intense Insects is a great closing track for Ten Love Songs, unleashing 3 minutes of menace and chaos on the listener.

36. Silencer

We knew we were in for a treat as she opens the track with 'Here I stand... with a gun in my hands'. Silencer is a brilliant orchestral moment which brings the tempo down but not the intensity.

35. Alyosha

My first thought upon hearing Alyosha was "oh it's Undercover but happy!". It's a beautiful track which shows Susanne holding on to the hope of love. Fluttery happiness all around on this one, I guess she put the gun down afterall.

34. Lullaby

Lullaby has a real witchy vibe which is fairly well evidenced across The Brothel, Su leaves no crumbs over this mysterious and enchanting track.

33. Darlings

I mean come on... what an opener?! Darlings manages to balance light and dark all at once with Susanne at her ethereal best, and giving the listener a warning that the Nine Love Songs to follow are not all going to be happy ones.
 
32. Let Me In

A juicy electronic tour-de-force, Susanne switches up usual operatic go-to style for something a little sassier here. Let me in! Let me in!

31. Black Widow

Su goes to gold here with full blown operatic high notes over an extremely chilling and unsettling track. Possibly one of her best vocal performances but probably not one of her best songs... otherwise it may be higher than this but it's still very very good!

30. If You Want Me

I won't lie to you, I REALLY had to battle with where to place this one. It's fantastic, and I'm going to say this is fair because pretty much everything at this point is very very good. Anyway, If You Want Me is a treat for the ears, classic Röyksopp sound with Susanne adding a sophisticated drama to amp it to where it needs to be.
 
29. The Brothel

A song that requires a bit of patience to let it properly land, The Brothel gives us length and a classic Susanne crescendo to wrap it up as neatly as possible, with the song unexpectedly diverging into a soft lullaby at the end.

28. Father Father

We're treated to more opera-su here as she climbs the octaves on this mesmerising track which details the woes of desperate love.

27. In The End

A song that just builds and builds and builds, Susanne is notably absent for the first half, but she comes in conveniently just as the song begins to spread its wings and take off, giving it the ethereal lift it ultimately needs.

26. Among Us

About as dark as it gets, Susanne sings about her love as being a killer, subjecting her to an emotional torment of which all that was left was him. She delivers every line with a frenzied vocal performance that many could only wish for.

25. The Silicone Veil

Now if I was purely rating lyrics, The Silicone Veil would absolutely be a top 1, maybe even 5. "I go to a funeral every-day, I follow these people around! I follow these people like a rats tail!" :disco: Her repeated screams of "LET ME OUT!" at the end do exactly what they need to get this song to the level it needs to be.

24. Turkish Delight

Now whilst this is far from one of Susanne's more complex efforts within the particular genre, Turkish Delight has been so utterly replayable for me over the years, and I have often wondered why... but the answer is simple. She sounds absolutely GLORIOUS on it.

23. Good Luck Bad Luck

Exquisite, beautiful, tender. Susanne uses restrain to tell the story and capture a quiet, captivating mood. The song takes a wonderful jazzy turn at the end which at the time felt like a surprising move for Susanne.

22. Never Ever

I mean what can I say here outside of the obvious? This is foot stomping disco pop at it's very very best!

21. When

When very much falls under the same vein as Father Father for me, but is my favourite of the two. Fairly stripped down at the time (but not really in comparison to her post Ten Love Songs works) with the emotive push of the vocals doing all the bidding.
 
20. Save Me

I think I massively underestimated what makes Röyksopp/Susanne such a good pairing, and Save Me really highlights it perfectly well. Yet another opportunity for Susanne to soar across the production, which in this case is not TOO intense but certainly packs enough of a punch to make you take immediate notice.

19. The Golden Age

Got to be one of the dreamiest songs I've ever heard in my life. The Golden Age is a song you have to really sit back and listen to, to almost drink it up for what it is. A deeply therapeutic song.

18. Stay awhile

With vocals bigger than earth, Stay awhile takes its time but ultimately rewards the listener with a guaranteed ascent into euphoria. I imagine Su must've needed a lie down after this one.

17. Fare Thee Well

Absolutely incredible lyrics, and a song which whilst it doesn't have an intense emotional push like some of the others, doesn't really need to. We've all been there - knowing it's the end but finding solace in the hopefulness that good times and new beginnings will come.

16. Fade Away

10/10 without any deliberation pop song. A great starting point for anybody who wants to explore the more pop-leaning aspects of Susanne's discography. If it was by any of the pop artists of today I'd be exclaiming it to be their absolute best song. But it just isn't quite Susanne's.

15. I Resign

A simple piano track, I Resign captures an essence, a purity, the mood of a person who is not resigning in the typical sense, but doing so from pain and instead choosing to be fearless. Susanne delivers arguably one of her best vocal performances here.

14. Accelerate

Su-Does-Halloween is capitalised about as much as it can be here, with Susanne unleashing one of her most menacing and oppressive vocal performances to date as the explores the most toxic depths of love and lust. Everything about it is perfect.

13. Leikara Ljóð

The organic Leikara Ljóð is stacked with pretty much everything we'd ever need it to be. We have handclaps, multi-layered harmonies, massive Su vocals and of course a classic crescendo at the end. A classic!

12. Oblivion

What a massive song!!! Everything about this is as cinematic as it could possibly get, including Susanne's vocal which is delivered with such a gut punch of emotion and conviction. An exhilarating experience.

11. It's All Gone Tomorrow

What I really love about It's All Gone Tomorrow is that it almost reminds me of a Bjork song, remember when Bjork used to write actual lyrics and have melodies in her songs? Susanne calmy tells us that if she jumped out of a window she'd probably change her mind between the 8th and 7th floors. A genius track which truly thrives in all of it's intensity.
 
10. Running to the Sea

Whilst the Röyksopp collabs end here, how could I possibly not allow Running to the Sea a top 10 placement? This is melancholic-euphoria personified for me, and I could listen to this song over and over and over again in any given situation and enjoy every last second of it.

09. O Master

"WAITING FOR A BULLET! WAITING FOR A BULLET! WAITING FOR A BULLET - I FEEL SOOO ALIVE!" O Master is absolutely essential Susanne and has just the perfect amount of everything it offers - it's intense, emotive, volatile, unpredictable and just absolutely stunning.

08. Day of The Titans

Day of The Titans is the song I'm quick to recommend for anybody who simply wants to hear the full extent of Su's vocal capabilities. On a song where she exclaims "I don't want to pay for your prostitution!" the also scales her vocal range, with the last 50 seconds being what I could only described as a frenzied attack of top tier vocal talent.

07. Kamikaze

A really accessible pop effort from Susanne's Ten Love Songs era, Kamikaze is another one which is just so easy to listen to over and over again. Unlike the also brilliant Fade Away, for me Kamikaze has a certain shimmer which gives it a little bit more elevation.

06. White Foxes

White Foxes is just such a brilliantly structured song from start to end, with an absolute passionate delivery from Su. The song wraps you up in a trance as it commands absolute undivided attention. Wouldn't have been out of place on Ten Love Songs, had it not come before it.
 
05. Memorial

"'Cause you took off my dress, and you never put it on again."
Ten minutes and six seconds. That's the runtime of Memorial, and you know what? No amount of clever editing could even touch this without reducing how monumentally powerful it is. The song begins it's journey by unleashing what can only described as the most harrowing heartbreak before shifting into what feels like a scene from Black Swan. Finally, Susanne hauntingly closes the song in a way only she can do best. This is an absolute masterpiece.
 
04. Undercover

"You're a teasing little twister and they're dancers in the dark".
I strongly advise everyone to have a cry to Undercover at least once in their lives. Susanne goes from commanding to fragile in the blink of an eye and takes the song to the point of no return in the last minute and a half as she shrieks "It wouldn't even matter! if you didn't even bother! to be more than a lover!" and finally "If I didn't even bother to believe in forever". A heart tenderly smashed into pieces, if that's even possible. Masterpiece.
 
03. MOUNTAINEERS (ft John Grant)
"Swimming in the soil of your wasted oil... what it is, what it means..."

Mountaineers for me joins a very rare group of songs of which I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard for the first time. In terms of size, weight and output, this may well be the most colossal song of Susanne's career. Sure it takes a couple of minutes before our Norwegian queen shows her face, but John Grant's eerie intro does a fantastic job of setting up what's about to come. Lyrically, Mountaineers is a song which is deeply inspired by climate change and explores the destruction of our planet. I can honestly say I cannot think of many songs which are as profoundly otherworldly as this, and it sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it. If this is your first time listening to Mountaineers, I envy you! What an absolutely remarkable and unforgettable song. What a statement.

I have also attached a live performance from the Barbican, of which Susanne handles John Grant's intro and delivers the entire song in such a remarkable and ethereal way, projecting over an orchestra and completely commanding the room with so much power and finesse. A must listen!
 
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02. DELIRIOUS
"You'll just have to learn the hard way!"

Delirious is for me, ALMOST Susanne's best song (more on that in a moment!) even still, this is absolutely a perfect pop song and it was VERY hard for me to decide between this and the song that ultimately beat it. Delirious has absolutely everything going on that we need - it's a femme fatale anthem (actually i'd say it's THE ultimate FF song), feels like ABBA on steroids, and I'd even go as to far to say it's probably her CAMPEST offering. :disco: The sheer POWER she holds within the runtime of this is incredible, she manages to be simultaneously seductive and frightening as she warns us of how much she loves the pain. An anthem of blood sweat and tears only in this case she won't be the one who's bleeding, sweating or crying. One of the best pop songs of the last decade? It goes without saying. A genuine magnum opus within the pop genre. Everything about Delirious is perfect and I'm going to stop gushing NOW because there's one song left...
 
GinAg (39) said:
This is very rapid. Take note @Jark

When The Lord should be top 10. It's stunning.
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Thank you! I make it easier for myself somewhat by creating the list as quickly as possible and then focusing on commentaries as we go along.
 
01. SLOWLY
"we have different heartbeats, but all the same heartbreak"

My god what a deeply moving song. Yes I do have some very potent and personal memories with it, but even still... this right here is the one. Susanne attempts to transform her broken heart as she desperately pleads with her lover, commenting on how she can feel their loneliness whilst they hold her, admitting she's lonely herself. The song highlights how we can feel, stumbling through life just trying to find people who understand us, and even more - FEEL us. It's not a particularly sad song, I would not call Slowly sad the way Undercover is, but it's definitely a really emotionally provocative and wonderful song. It has a very melancholic groove, but there's some euphoria there. There's so much hopefulness here within the frustration. It's genuinely brilliant stuff to the point of actually being quite overwhelming. Full euphoria emerges at 3:08 as she slam dunks the best vocal performance of her career as she desperately screams "Oh I can feel it!" as the song shimmers like the starry sky, with a tropical house outro coming in to make way for love and light. No more darkness.
 
It's a wrap! I hope you all enjoyed this exploration of Susanne as much as I did writing it all up. 80% of her back catalogue is high quality, and if anything I hope this gives you all a nudge to go listen to some of these BANGERS. :disco:
 
Some wonderful write-ups. I have to admit I appreciate Susanne most easily on Ten Love Songs or on a collaboration (the recent album was barely a take a couple of songs and run affair) but this certainly has put me in the mood to dive in.
 
I'm not too familiar with Susanne outside of Ten Love Songs, but Delirious really is one of the pinnacles of human achievement so I'm glad it ended up so high. I'll be delving into some of the albums I'm less au fait with after this!
 
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