Dirty Old Town, Selma French Bolstad, Susanne Sundfør, and Kit Downes

I’m not going to blow anyone’s mind when I say that we live in the age of pop stars barely old enough to attend college, let alone drink or drive. With that in mind, it’s quite refreshing to see an artist who waited until after finishing full time education before deciding to play music for a living. Susanne Sundfør was 23 when she decided that the burgeoning career in music that she’d been enjoying was what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, having already released two albums and was prepping a third. Clearly, the singing lessons that she’d been getting since she was 12 had been put to good use.

The singer/songwriter first came to prominence in 2005, when she was 19 years of age and supporting the British artist Tom McRae on his tour of Norway. The audience that had seen her tour with McRae spread the word about her talents and her debut single “Walls” was a surprise hit on the singles chart, peaking at number three. Spurred on by the success of her very first single, she released her self-titled debut album in 2007, which matched the success of “Walls” on the album chart, also peaking at number three. She was such a success that she was nominated for a Spellemannprisen award (basically a Norwegian Grammy) for best female artist.

However this didn’t sit well with Sundfør, who would go on to win the award in 2008 and during the acceptance speech, said "I am first and foremost an artist, not first and foremost a woman". Causing something of a nationwide debate about whether the Spellemannprisen, a forty year old institution, should have a gender segregated “artist of the year” category. This meant that whatever she did next was something of a make or break moment for Sundfør. With this much attention focused on her and what she was going to do next, it had to be the best thing she could possibly create or she her career would be kneecapped just as she decided that she would dedicate her life to creating music.

Fortunately, she did create the best thing she could possibly make. “The Brothel” was released in 2010 and wasn’t just rapturously received by all who heard it, but also sold over 40’000 copies, making it the second best-selling album of the year in Norway. Susanne Sundfør had well and truly arrived, and ever since then she’s been something of a Norwegian national treasure, with her follow up to “The Brothel”, “The Silicon Veil” hurtling into the album charts at number one. She’s not just Norway’s secret anymore either, her back catalogue has been released all over Europe and at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before the whole world falls for her charms. Highly recommended.