Norwegian art rocker Susanna has streamed a brand new single with her cousin, musician David Wallumrød. For No One is a cover of The Beatles 1966 song of the same name, originally from their Revolver album. You can listen to the new cover below.
It's taken from a new collaboration, Live, which will be released through Susanna's SusanaSonata label on August 13.
“We played a lot together in our childhood and youth, being cousins, growing up in the same small town Kongsberg,” says Susanna, who for a short time was singing backup vocals in a band David played in as teenagers. A couple of years later Susanna and David started to play as a duo, and after a while as a band - but this collaboration never truly saw the light of day beyond a lot of rehearsal together.
In 2003 Susanna and David Wallumrød made their one and only duo-concert appearance at Café Mono in Oslo. “After being highly active musicians for many years, we decided to do a concert together in 2017, at a tiny cocktail-bar concert series in Oslo,” explains Susanna “It was so much fun we decided to do some more shows.”
Out of this came Live. The songs on Live are the same covers Susanna and David played together 20 years ago, with a few new additions. They are instantly recognisable classics by Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Tom Waits
“We did the selection of songs back then very much based on some of the records I listened to at that time,” begins Susanna, “such as Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, The Best of Leonard Cohen from 1975, Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits. Now we both bring songs to the table.”
“The work with the songs has been quite natural all along I think. Nothing has been forced in any way due to the arrangements. There hasn’t been a lot of struggling to find the right version, but some tunes have taken longer to get comfortable with singing. And even though the songs and versions we play have been with us for a long time, I think now is the right time to do this material.
"We have both done a lot of playing and songwriting ourselves over the years, and I at least have lower shoulders approaching Joni Mitchell songs, haha. The focus has been with more emphasis on performing together than carve out a new arrangement.”
Susnna and David Wallumrød: Live
1. Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen)
2. This Flight Tonight (Joni Mitchell)
3. Gin Soaked Boy (Tom Waits)
4. Wrecking Ball (Neil Young)
5. All My Tears (Julie Miller)
6. Underground (Tom Waits)
7. For No One (Lennon-McCartney)
8. Johnsburg, Illinois (Tom Waits)
