Meditations On Love

When Susanna concluded the Baudelaire trilogy with 2023s Baudelaire & Orchestra, her music demanded a fresh start. Her albums devoted to the French poet -- which included 2020s Baudelaire & Piano and 2022s Elevation -- twined death and love dramatically, but on Meditations on Love, she brings the hearts shadowy realms into the light. Its a process thats much more active than the albums title implies. On "Big Dreams," the plucked synth tones and swirling saxophone that surround her suggest the transformative powers of hopes and fears. Its also more emotionally complex than might be expected. Rather than focusing on joy or sorrow, Susanna homes in on resilience and uncertainty -- states of being that are less obvious but vital companions to loves extremes. She expresses them with striking directness: instead of playing infidelity for pity on the incisive opening track "Everyone Knows," she balances public shame ("everyone knows it didnt work out") and private grief ("how can I go on without you?") with steely composure. Shes just as stoic on "Leave Behind," pulling herself from the wreckage of a broken relationship over rumbling, galloping instrumentation that sounds like setting out for unknown territories. Meditations on Loves sound mirrors the change in perspective of Susannas songwriting, with Finnish-Norwegian producer/multi-instrumentalist Juhani Silvola and several heavyweights of the Norwegian jazz scene contributing sophisticated, reactive sonics that are as expressive as a film score. Percussion adds a dynamic jolt unlike anything else in Susannas body of work on "I Took Care of Myself," where Cortex drummer Dag Erik Knedal Andersen and Ensemble neoN percussionist Ane Marthe Sorlien give the song a rippling spine that echoes its message of self-reliance. The subtle shifts in instrumentation heighten Meditations on Loves organic storytelling on "Black Heart," where twangy guitars evoke the nostalgic heartbreak of Angelo Badalamentis music for Twin Peaks before creeping into blackened metallic tones as Susanna questions the mysteries of loves appearance and disappearance. Conversely, the standout "Elephant Song" borrows from Ethiopian soul as it moves from "sorrow and misery" to the ecstatic choral mantra "we dont know what will happen in the end." This constant movement makes Meditations on Love a song cycle akin to Garden of Earthly Delights, and like that album, it grows more satisfying as it heads into its final stretch. "A Swallow"s delicate, folky heartbreak showcases Sarah-Jane Summers pizzicato strings as well as Susannas knack for writing songs that sound like they could be ancient, while "I Was Never Here" brings that anguish into an unmistakably modern context as it portrays a breakup as the disintegration of reality itself. By probing the hearts most vulnerable places on Meditations on Love, Susanna uncovers new angles on well-worn feelings and her music alike. ~ Heather Phares