Blomi

After three consecutive chart-topping albums of Nordic synth pop grandeur, Susanne Sundfor scaled back down to her core elements on 2017s Music for People in Trouble. The Norwegians intimate piano and voice meditations came as a reaction not only to the pressures of her own success, but to the increasingly anxious social climate that enveloped her. In the interim between that release and her seventh album, Blomi, Sundfor gave birth to a daughter, and her personal axis shifted once again. Blomi is a gorgeous album, one with a multitude of interesting layers and complex themes that give it the feel of a spiritual quest. The celestial "Asheras Song" sings like a prayer, wishing "love and light to all beings" as shimmering electronic tones dance around Sundfors delicate piano clusters. The mood shifts to jazzy elegance on the title track, which concerns itself with renewal and rebirth; "Blomi" is an Old Norse term meaning "to be in bloom." There is strong adherence to history and mythology throughout the record, and Sundfors frequent use of this ancient Scandinavian language is another of Blomis wonderful quirks. An entire track, the snaky and percussive "Ṣānnu Yārru Lī," is based around an erotic Minoan-Creten text translated to Old Norse by her linguist grandfather, Kjell Aartun, featured on the albums cover alongside the artist as a young girl. The surprises continue with "Leikara Ijo​́​dh," an uplifting, gospel-inspired rave-up that incorporates nature sounds, a multi-tracked Sundfor choir, and a soothing Hardanger fiddle coda. The sweeping "Alyosha" serves as a poignant centerpiece, comparing her husbands innate optimism to that of Dostoevskys central character in The Brothers Karamazov. Bookending the album are a pair of whimsical sound collages featuring dialog from a spiritual healer friend of Sundfors, further emphasizing the records cinematic structure. Despite its arcane references and philosophical nature, Blomi remains approachable and is often quite moving. That Sundfor continues to make such consistently challenging music and be justly rewarded for it is its own small miracle, and with Blomi she reaches yet another career high. ~ Timothy Monger