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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Music For People In Trouble

Susanne Sundfør

2017

Music For People In Trouble

Album Summary

This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.

Music for People in Trouble is the fifth studio album by Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør, released on 8 September 2017 through Bella Union. Recorded with longtime collaborator Jørgen Træen in breaks between Sundfør's travels across the world, the album represents a departure from the synth-pop of Ten Love Songs (2015) in favor of a return to her roots as a folk singer-songwriter. The album received highly positive reviews from music critics, with some calling it her best work to date. It debuted at number one on the Norwegian album charts, making it her fourth consecutive album to achieve this feat. The album was supported by two singles, "Undercover" and "Mountaineers". The first was released as the album's lead single on 6 June, and the latter, which features American singer-songwriter John Grant, on 24 July. Characterized primarily as an art pop and folk album, Music for People in Trouble also incorporates jazz, ambient, chamber pop, country, drone and musique concrète. Sundfør co-produced the album with Jørgen Træen, who could contribute through his arrangements, "such as the sounds of an old lady in her apartment and a ticking grandfather clock on 'Bedtime Story' or the spoken-word intro on 'Music for People in Trouble'." Sundfør has cited several influences on this album, including Carole King, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Elton John and Leonard Cohen. The Daily Telegraph described the album's subject matter as "dark, conflating a destructive personal relationship with environmental damage, heartbreak and climate change," while also noting that it represents an almost complete about-turn from the shiny commercialism of Ten Love Songs. The Guardian called the album Sundfør's Biophilia moment. PopMatters noted the experimental sound of the album, and thought it resonates with the music of Jenny Hval.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.11

Votes

210

Submitter

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Reviews

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Sort by: Top Date
Nov 18 2023
4

This was unexpected. Honestly, I was a little bored in the first half, but the second half really caught my interest until the finale. I believe, if there is an afterlife, the last track on the album, "Mountaineers" with John Grant (who I love), will be playing as you ascend into Heaven. What a wonderful song that almost had me in tears it was so beautiful. Was a 3.5 for me at first, but easy 4. Great album.

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Feb 04 2024
5

You get teleported to some magical, norse fairytale with angelic singing. Lovely album to dream away

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Feb 09 2024
5

Haunting and lovely. Would make for a good "walk in the woods in autumn" album.

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Mar 28 2024
5

At last! A brilliant album that's been handpicked. Well done whoever you are 👍

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Feb 16 2024
5

This made me feel more intelligent if that makes sense. Great add.

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Nov 18 2023
4

Chilling album. Felt like Joanna Newsom. Nice lil listen.

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Jan 08 2024
4

The roughness of this, the voice and the simplicity, yet somehow complex structure really get to me. Nicely chosen!

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Jan 07 2024
3

Sundfør is completely off my radar, so this record is a grower for now, close in time and to its likely worse contemporaries. But there's plenty about which I can speak glowingly. A big part of me likes to spice up science fiction - ahem, putting away childish things speculative fiction - as really about ideas, really about the present, a real source of potential and not mere entertainment. And there are two instruments which apply a space schema to country music: Synths and steel. Plenty of the former here, but understated; Music for People in Trouble time-travels, is timeless, ventures out by dabbling back. Melancholy, but there's hope in its complexity.

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Nov 18 2023
2

ugh, more twee waify folk. I'm sure it's very sophisticated and stylish in Scandinavia but boooooooo hiss. 2/5.

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Sep 28 2024
5

Norway? Hell yeah, Norway! At first I just thought this was very lovely, but maybe not super distinctive, and then it proved me wrong by going to some very interesting places. Moog?! I love this lots!

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Jan 18 2024
4

This odd phenomenon of Scandanavians sounding like some variety of American pop singers... still I liked this a lot, other than the spoken word bits that felt a little pasted on and pretentious to me.

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Feb 07 2024
4

7/10. This was nice, but it didn't quite hit home for me.

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Feb 16 2024
4

Quite excellent stuff, very moody and cutting in its restraint.

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Feb 24 2024
4

WOW. I had never heard of this artist before and from the very beginning it grabbed me. Simply sublime. Familiar-sounding yet completely distinctive. I have a feeling this will become a regular part of my listening rotation, and I will check out her other work as well. Thank you to whoever added this to the list! 4 stars.

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Jan 18 2024
3

Pop. Folk. Melódico. Tranquilo.

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Jan 25 2024
3

Weird. Beautiful. Weird. I have loved a few songs, especially 'The Sound of War'

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Jan 29 2024
3

C'est doux et c'est bon. C'est scandinave a ce que je vois et je ne suis pas familier avec l'artiste mais c'est Un style que j'aime vraiment. 3.75

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Feb 05 2024
3

Chill, mellow, and folksy. An after-dinner mint.

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Feb 09 2024
3

Delightful voice, chill tunes

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Feb 17 2024
3

Solid compositions

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Apr 25 2024
3

I really loved the voice and atmospheric vibe on this album and enjoyed listening to it.

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Apr 26 2024
2

Beautifully sung and mostly very sparse arrangements. Starts well, like a purer Lana Del Rey, then, for me, just gets a bit boring. However, i can see why it has been submitted as a strong “album to hear before you die” in the same vein as fellow Scandinavian Bjork’s minimalist folk albums.

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Mar 08 2024
1

Folk poetry mostly one star

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May 20 2024
5

This album is stunning. Suzanne Sundfør’s voice is powerful and arresting and her lyrics are thought provoking and exploratory. There are moments of pure minimalism punctuated by lush synthesized arrangements that provide the perfect complement. This is folk/chamber pop at some of its best. The album is just absurdly beautiful. It is one of the best records I’ve heard in a while.

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Jul 28 2024
5

It's a rare treat to find an album with a twist. Up to five minutes into the fourth track, 'The Sound of War', this is a really nice straight singer songwriter album. Then the listener is hit by a three minute sound collage, followed by the ambient spoken word title track. It stays brilliantly weird from there. Atmospheric soundscapes form the basis or context of the remaining songs and enhance the emotional heft of the record, making a fascinating and affecting listen. The sounds wash over the listener, bringing them into the album's world. A triumph of ambition, creativeness and sequencing. I can only see the record getting even more interesting with further listens. Rating: 4.5 Playlist track: Noone Believes in Love Anymore Date listened: 30/07/24

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Sep 28 2024
5

Well this was just lovely. Excellent choice!

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Sep 28 2024
5

This one was pretty.

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Mar 17 2025
5

I definitely have a type when it comes to music. This is it. I just love some etheral folk sounds. I will have to dig deeper into her discography because this is what I love. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Indifferent. Leaning more towards a yes but am fine if it isn't.

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May 23 2025
5

Outrageously beautiful. Stellar share; we weren't going to get to hear this magical work otherwise.

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Feb 07 2024
4

Quite a cool listen. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. 7/10

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May 08 2024
4

Great find. Thanks for adding the album.

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Jun 05 2024
4

Never heard of her before. Right from the start, I knew this was something I would really like. Thanks to the submitter of this album. I think it is amazing. I would definitely listen to other albums by her as well. I look forward to getting to know this album better over time. 4/5

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Jul 25 2024
4

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Mantra, God luck bad luck, The sound of war, Undercover

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Sep 10 2024
4

beautiful, very much enjoyed

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Sep 28 2024
4

This was very low key - a bit too much so maybe at times - but mostly lovely listen.

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Oct 01 2024
4

Great folk singer-songwriter album. I like this better than her electronic music.

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Oct 11 2024
4

This was so lovely, thanks for sharing it. Slyly minimalist at the outset, with surprising depth that develops as the album progresses. Susanne Sundfør's vocal isn't the best, but it suits the mood perfectly. Fave Songs: Undercover, Reincarnation, The Golden Age, The Sound of War, No One Believes in Love Anymore, Mountaineers

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Nov 12 2024
4

This was a wonderful surprise of an album. Gentle, atmospheric and really beautiful. Will be listening again!

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Nov 18 2024
4

Super, super cool album, I seriously dig this one. Ethereal, urgent, natural, a lot going on here. Scattered voices, sounds from out of left field, didn't know what to expect around each turn. Especially loved the title track, a lot of the electronic blips and stuff reminded me of the score from Night Gallery's "A Feast of Blood" segment - essential viewing. Loved this album, exactly the sort of thing I'd like to find on a list like this. Favorite tracks: Music for People in Trouble, Reincarnation, The Sound of War, Undercover, The Golden Age, Mountaineers. Album art: A statute of a woman with a treeline behind. Are we to believe this is the artist reincarnated, or was she perhaps the subject in a past life? There's an eerie lifelike quality to this statute, I appreciate it. 4.5/5

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Dec 04 2024
4

I really dislike using the word "medieval" here, but it does have that feel to it. Slow, patient, very heavy on the story telling emphasis. It's gorgeous. I think the speaking parts laced throughout bring it down a bit, but I think it's something you could, with time, grow to not mind. Favorite tracks: "Good Luck Bad Luck", "Undercover"

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Jan 01 2025
4

A passionate singer-songwriter set. Reincarnation and Undercover are standouts for me, and most of the rest of it is very samey, but they are all pretty and soulful. Strangely the title track and the intro to The Golden Age take you out the mood, but make the whole experience more interesting, as it is unexpected on this type of album. Lastly, the closing track, Mountaineers adds a cool ethereal tone that also elevates the whole piece.

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Feb 18 2025
4

Living and enveloping soundscapes

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Apr 23 2025
4

This took me by surprise! At first I wasn't that impressed but some of these songs were amazing. Totally reminded me of elements of First Aid Kit, Angel Olsen and Lana Del Rey. I'm certainly interested to look into more of her stuff!

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Apr 27 2025
4

I browsed through the other LPs released by this Norwegian singer with admittedly wonderful vocal chops, displaying synth pop / dream pop, sometimes verging closer to weird The Knife-adjacent territory, and I'm afraid what I have heard from those other albums felt a little underwhelming to my ears -- not bad by all means, but certainly not the best you can find in that genre. *Music For People In Trouble* is a VERY different animal, though, and I want to thank whoever added it to this list. I never would have found out about this record if I had only taken into account the most streamed albums by Susanne Sundfør. First, this particular LP delves into minimalistic folk turf that's way more artful and impressive -- like a (surprisingly successful) mix between This Mortal Coil and Joni Mitchell at times, with steel guitar touches that are as spacey as they are evocative. On first listens, some of the songs fly by without leaving much of an impression, but I suspect most of them can reveal their flavors in the long run. And others, like "Reincarnation", clearly stand out right away. Then the album (gently) pulls the rug from under your feet with some strange synthetic soundscapes actually *adding* to the whole journey -- that dark ambient instrumental interlude at the end of "The Sound Of War" was simply amazing. And finally it keeps its most impressive gems for the second side, a choice I always find as bold as it is dynamic, making you want to immediately spin the record all over again. "Undercover" and "Mountaineers" (featuring John Grant) are just extraordinary songs, sending you into a part mystical, part elated mood that very few artists can send you to (mostly thinking about Björk and Lana Del Rey here). Besides, the fact that those songs seem to link personal introspection with more global concerns makes it topically relevant, which is cream on the cake. But beyond its lyrical intent, that I would need to focus more on later, this LP simply makes me want to visit Norway's fjords. And in a sense, it feels like I have already visited them a little, thanks to the music on it. So thank you for the trip. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 13 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 19 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 37

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May 26 2025
4

This started off as a quite lovely acoustic album, with breathy vocals over sparse textures, and was nice enough if a bit overly familiar - but something changed at the end of The Sound of War. The track ended with this unsettling drone that did not let up and just held you in that noise, and the following song was much more avant-garde and felt somehow ominous. The second half of the album was back to the quite lovely acoustic stuff but there was this underlying eeriness, with a rich dreamlike quality that reminded me of Jenny Hval or Agnes Obel. The project closed out with the sumptuous Mountaineers, with an almost unrecognisable John Grant feature, and the final couple of minutes were actually transcendent

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Apr 25 2024
3

This was a pleasant listening experience.

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Jul 16 2024
3

Chamber folk. Relajante. Ni fu ni fa.

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Nov 18 2024
3

This was a very unique album and knowing a user submitted this makes it even cooler. Some songs didn’t resonate with me but I got lost in others. Very ethereal.

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Nov 22 2024
3

At first I thought this was gonna be a gillian welch type country album but then it went in about every direction a singer-songwriter album can. It started country but went into folk, jazz, fantasy, even ambient stuff at times which was cool.

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Dec 24 2024
3

Good album, but don’t know something was missing for me to add it to my frequent rotation, maybe needs a Couple more listens.

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Jan 01 2025
3

Simple, sincere, soulful. The sound of war and the title track didn't really do much for me. Overall, some of the introduction to these songs leave me wanting a bit more.

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Jan 14 2025
3

Real nice on a Tuesday morning

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Feb 11 2025
3

Switches between "generic pop" and "ethereal forest music" like a metronome. I think I liked it?

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Apr 16 2025
3

Nice enough- she has a good voice and the music is beautiful. Not too keen on the lyrics on some songs- having everything rhyme is not essential and some of them are corny. Still, overall it's a good album.

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Apr 23 2025
3

This was nice but I got a bit bored.

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May 17 2025
3

This album felt like a bully. A track would start and I would think I wasn’t going to like it, then the track would do the old switcheroo into something beautiful. Other times there would be an absolutely haunting song that would transform into a jazz horror show. Still not sure about it.

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Jun 27 2025
3

Sort of nice, but not great. I made the mistake of listening to the first couple of songs, then putting on a Judee Sill track - the difference in quality and class was so massive, I couldn't go back. Sorry Susanne - "don't call us, we'll call you".

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Jul 09 2025
3

Intricate, haunting and melodic. Peaceful in a certain way, morbid in others. I can't quite put my finger on how I feel when I listened. Interesting and challenging for sure.

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Jul 24 2025
3

Couple of really good songs on here - Undercover really stood out.

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Jul 25 2025
3

Earnest to a fault. A little too much so, but has moments where it reminds me of bjork or enjya. Not bad.

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Jun 26 2024
2

This was already going to be an uphill battle as I’m not usually one for slower singer-songwriter efforts, but Sundfør’s predilection for sub-60 BPM tracks across the entire LP made this one a slog. Next to no rhythmic or dynamic contrast, cloying lyrics, and straight love songs across the board meant this was well outside my wheelhouse and honestly kind of annoying. Susanne may have a killer voice, but 45 minutes of boomerish whining about how nO oNe BeLiEveS iN lOvE AnYmoRe would be a tough sell even if it was coming from a choir of angels.

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Aug 09 2024
2

This feels like a lot of the modern pop music that I’ve been forced to listen by my SO however this one is a bit less up beat and more melodramatic. Something about foreign artists that have good vocals that really enjoy having a melancholy style of music. I’d be more inclined to listen to Benee or some other pop artists than this album. It wasn’t terrible, but it’s just not my taste. 5.3/10

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Nov 09 2024
2

She can sing, but these songs do nothing for me. I can see why others would like it, but thisbkind of music just makes me very sleepy.

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Feb 06 2025
2

Music For People In Trouble. Bit dull. Nice voice, sound is pretty in small doses but quickly becomes dreary and boring. The second half of The Sound of War is more interesting than most songs and Mountaineers is a fine finisher, if more were like it I'd give it a 3 but they weren't, so it's a 2.

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Apr 02 2025
2

I think I'm a person in trouble (always). After listening to this album, I'm in trouble but also sad and discouraged. Nice voice, though.

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May 05 2024
1

Some of it was decent. There were parts that were super weird. Not sure why someone would want to add this, I will round down.

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