biography of Susanne Sundfør

biography of Susanne Sundfør

Jun 4, 2025 - 01:12
Jun 22, 2025 - 11:53
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biography of Susanne Sundfør

Sundfør performing in Stavanger, 2010
Born 19 March 1986 (age 39)
Haugesund, Norway
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • record producer
Spouse
André Roligheten
 
(m. 2022)

Children

1

Relatives

Kjell Aartun (grandfather)

Musical career

Genres
  • Art pop
  • electronica
  • folk
  • experimental pop
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
  • synthesizer
  • keyboards

Years active

2005–present
Labels
  • EMI
  • Sonnet Sound
  • Warner
  • Bella Union

Susanne Aartun Sundfør 

(Norwegian pronunciation: [sʉˈsànːə ˈòːɣtʉːn ˈsʉ̀nføːɣ] (local Haugesund dialect; [sʉˈsɑ̀nːə ˈɔ̀ʈːʉːn ˈsʉ̀nføːr] in Urban East ("standard") Norwegian);[verification needed] born 19 March 1986) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Haugesund, Sundfør started touring in 2005.

Susanne Sundfør (2007), her self-titled debut studio album, reached number three on the Norwegian album chart. It was followed by Take One in 2008, a live album consisting of songs from her debut. Her second studio album, The Brothel, was released in 2010, peaking at number one in Norway and becoming the best-selling album of that year. The album saw a shift from the piano-driven pop of previous releases towards a more ambitious and electronic direction; its title track reached number two on the Norwegian singles charts, the highest of Sundfør's career. In 2011, she released a live instrumental album composed solely of synthesizers, A Night at Salle Pleyel, serving as a commission piece.

Her third studio album, The Silicone Veil (2012), topped the Norwegian album chart and received critical acclaim. Her international breakthrough came in 2015 with her fourth studio album, Ten Love Songs, which saw Sundfør experimenting with an electronic dance pop sound. The album reached number one and garnered universal acclaim. Her fifth studio album Music for People in Trouble (2017) represented a departure from the electronic-driven sound of previous records in favor of a return to her roots as a folk singer-songwriter. The album reached number one in Norway as well, making it her fourth consecutive album to achieve this feat. Her sixth album Blómi was released in 2023.

Early life

Sundfør was born in Haugesund on 19 March 1986. She is the granddaughter of theologian and linguist Kjell Aartun. After attending a music high school, she began making music as a hobby. She started playing music when she was six; "I would go to these classes where we would just sing and play the tambourine. You know, it wasn't really serious, but I really liked it so I started playing the violin when I was eight, then taking piano lessons when I was nine, and then singing lessons when I was twelve. So I was playing music at an early stage, but I didn't really take it that seriously. I wasn't practicing that much or anything. Then I went to a music high school, and I guess that's what you'd call my education in music." 

Sundfør also studied English and art at the University of Bergen

About

Norwegian singer and songwriter who released her debut album in 2007 and joined the band Hypertext in 2010.

Before Fame

She started taking singing lessons when she was 12 years old.

Trivia

She recorded vocals for the song Baboon Moon on Nils Petter Molvaer's 2011 album Baboon Moon.

Family Life

She is the granddaughter of linguist Kjell Aartun.

Associated With

She covered Bob Dylan's Master of War in 2008 at Store Studio. ndfør rose to fame in her homeland in 2005, when she toured Norway opening for English singer Tom McRae.  In 2006, she joined Norwegian band Madrugada on tour, performing their song "Lift Me", a duet the band originally recorded in the studio with singer Ane Brun. In November, she released her debut single "Walls", which would climb to number three on the Norwegian singles chart. Her self-titled debut studio album was released in March 2007 and peaked at number three on the Norwegian album chart. 

2008–2009: Take One

Susanne Sundfør was followed by the 2008 album Take One, consisting of acoustic versions of songs from her debut album. Although perhaps not immediately apparent to the listener, it is technically a live album - Take One was recorded in one take.  Sundfør considers it to be "kind of like a remix album. Like if you have an album of just remixes of an earlier record you made, that's how I see it. So I don't really see it as an album like the other ones."  That same year, Sundfør covered Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" at Store Studio, NRK. The following month, she was awarded Spellemannprisen for Female Artist. She spurred nationwide debate when she accepted the award, stating her work represented her as an artist first, and a woman second, bringing into question whether the Spellemann board was acting archaically with such gender-specific awards. That same month, Sundfør appeared on Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway's album Sorgen og Gleden (English: The Sorrow and the Joy), with the Norwegian folk-tune psalm "Ingen Vinner Frem til Den Evige Ro" (English: "No One Reaches the Eternal Calm") by Lars Linderot and Gustav Jensen. Later in 2008, Sundfør moved to Oslo. 

2010–2011: The Brothel

In 2010, her second studio album The Brothel was released to critical acclaim in Norway and ended up becoming the best-selling album of the year.  The album saw a shift from the piano driven pop from previous releases towards a more ambitious and electronic sound.  Sundfør described it as a "conceptual album with both quite acoustic and electronic soundscapes. Dagbladet wrote that Sundfør was so good that other young Norwegian artists would start crying when hearing her—both because she is several leagues above them, but also because her music is so moving and beautiful.  It was at this time that Sundfør decided to commit to music as a profession. She said in a 2013 interview, "I think I only decided that this is something that I wanted to spend my entire life doing after I released The Brothel, because that was the first time I really felt like I had 'found' a sound.  Later that year, Sundfør briefly joined the band Hypertext, and they released their second album Astronaut Kraut!. She also appeared that year on folk/rock band Real Ones' single "Sister to All". 

In 2011, she provided vocals on the title track from Nils Petter Molvær's album Baboon Moon.  She also released an instrumental album, A Night at Salle Pleyel. The album is a live recording of a specially commissioned piece for the Oslo Jazz Festival's 25th anniversary. Sundfør composed it solely of synthesizers with a team of four keyboardists chosen by her: Ådne Meisfjord, Morten Qvenild, Øystein Moen and Christian Wallumrød. Sundfør considers the album to be more of a side project from her main project. 

2012–2013: The Silicone Veil

In 2012, Sundfør released the critically acclaimed "White Foxes", which served as the lead single to her third studio album The Silicone Veil, which is also Sundfør's first album to be released in the UK. The album received highly positive reviews from music critics internationally,  and was a commercial success in Norway, debuting at number one on the album chart.  Later that year, her collaboration with Norwegian musician Morten Myklebust on the single "Away" was released.  On 6 December, she released a collaboration with the Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp, "Running to the Sea". They performed the song at Lydverket on 28 November 2012, as well as a cover of "Ice Machine" by Depeche Mode. A studio version of "Ice Machine" was later featured on the duo's compilation album, Late Night Tales: Röyksopp (2013),  and "Running to the Sea" was later featured on the duo's fifth studio album, The Inevitable End (2014).

Sundfør collaborated with French electronic band M83 on the soundtrack for the 2013 film Oblivion. The soundtrack was released on 9 April 2013 and features the title song "Oblivion" with Sundfør contributing the main vocals. Later that month, Sundfør's back catalog was released for the first time in the United Kingdom to positive critical response. The following month, Sundfør was featured on a single by Susanna alongside Siri Nilsen.  The song was recorded by the three in 2012 for the Oya Container during the Øyafestivalen in Oslo, and was released worldwide on 24 May 2013 on streaming services and for digital download.  In June 2013, Sundfør remixed Maps' single "A.M.A". She also produced, programmed, arranged, recorded, provided backing vocals and played the keyboards and autoharp on the indie pop band Bow to Each Other's debut album The Urge Dreams,  marking her debut as a producer. 

Personal life

Sundfør has stated that she is an atheist but that she "doesn't think science can explain everything that surrounds us," continuing: "Sometimes it's fun to imagine that there is a 'bigger' meaning, a connection, something we have not yet thought about and is expecting to reach a higher level of understanding. Sometimes the questions are more interesting than the answers."

In August 2020, Sundfør announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with her first child.  She married jazz musician André Roligheten two years later, in summer 2022. 

Sundfør is an advocate of regenerative agriculture, and has produced an Instagram series on sustainable farming alongside chef Per Theodor Tørrissen, visual artist Johanne Log, and the Nybo Regenerative Farm.

Politics

Prior to the 2017 Norwegian General Election, Sundfør showed her support for the Socialist Left Party on Twitter, writing: "Vote for solidarity and protecting our planet. Vote against capitalism. It's the only humane future." 

The drone outro in "The Sound of War" from 2017's Music for People in Trouble was inspired by a BBC report on Gaza.  In November 2023, Sundfør performed at a "Songs for Gaza" fundraiser in Norway for Doctors Without Borders. 

Discography

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Certifications
Susanne Sundfør
  • Released: 19 March 2007
  • Label: Your Favourite Music, Warner Norway
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
The Brothel
  • Released: 12 March 2010
  • Label: EMI Norway
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
  • IFPI NOR: 2× Platinum[79]
The Silicone Veil
  • Released: 23 March 2012
  • Label: EMI Norway
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
Ten Love Songs
  • Released: 16 February 2015
  • Label: Warner Norway
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
  • IFPI NOR: Gold
Music for People in Trouble
  • Released: 8 September 2017
  • Label: Bella Union
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
  • IFPI NOR: Gold 
Blómi
  • Released: 28 April 2023
  • Label: Bella Union
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

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