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In a recent article in the New Yorker, music critic Sasha Frere-Jones examines four artists that have recently covered Joy Division’s immortal “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” He devotes only a single sentence to the best version, recorded by Norway’s Susanna & the Magical Orchestra. (It’s actually duo of singer Susanna Wallumrod and keyboardist Morten Qvenild, who’s also a member of the jazz trio In the Country.) The group’s excellent new album, Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon), consists entirely of covers that radically transform the originals to molasses-slow lamentations of deeply focused emotion. Wallumrod, whose brother Christian is one of Norway’s best bassists and bandleaders, sings pop music with the invention and technique of a jazz singer, much like fellow countrywoman Solveig Slettahjell—both of whom could provide some useful lessons to Norah Jones.
