Suzie Ungerleider – My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider
MVKA – 13 August 2021
Perhaps better known under her previous guise as Oh Susanna, My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider marks the tenth solo studio album by the Vancouver based singer-songwriter and the first since announcing she would record and perform under her birth name.
The name change was both a personal and political decision. While recording 2017’s A Girl in Teen City, Ungerleider became aware of a change in her identity as a performer, growing confidence in her own persona. As she says: “It was at this point that I started to feel the parts of myself integrating, My musical self, and who I am when I’m not onstage, these started to feel more one and the same. By telling my own stories, I was showing who I really was. I was lifting the veil of Oh Susanna and revealing who I was as Suzie Ungerleider.”
At the same time, Ungerleider became more aware of the problematic imagery of connecting her performing identity to the 1848 Stephen Foster song ‘Oh Susanna’. That song contains racist imagery and is associated with Minstrelsy, a dehumanising tradition Ungerleider had no wish to be part of.
By shedding her previous stage name, the new album also sees Ungerleider delve deeper into more private and confidential narratives with mature confidence. “So here I am,” says Ungerleider, “leaving behind the trappings of a persona that gave me the courage to climb up onstage and reveal what is in my heart. Now that I have grown, I am ready to shed that exoskeleton. It once protected me, but I need to take it off so I can be all of who I am.”
The opening track, ‘Mount Royal’, is a cute piece of nostalgia. It’s a romantic little reminiscence about Ungerleider’s late teenage years spent in Montreal. It draws the listener in with its quiet familiarity. “We sang among the banks to an old-time country song”, sings Ungerleider over some velvety, echoey synth. The track has a dreamy vibe, tinkering with themes of longing and teenage frustration whilst dreaming of the “moon and the stars”.
‘Pumpkins’, on the other hand, is a melancholic love song, placing the narrative in autumn, providing it with a knowing, measured tone: “All the fall colours like streaks in your hair”. With a greater focus on drums and guitar, it’s a country-tinged track, providing a neat contrast to the innocence of ‘Mount Royal’.
One of the standout tracks, ‘Summerbaby’, sees the artist as a mother, singing a touching little lullaby. It’s a tender and heartfelt song about premature birth: “Little baby, you came so small and early, but not too soon”, sings Ungerleider with her hauntingly emotional, intimate vocals. The child of ‘Summerbaby’ focuses again on ‘Hearts’, which explores the teenage years of the protagonist and links back to the album’s opening track. Again, it is a lovingly sincere and cosy track.
My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider is an album filled with heartbreak and passion. Listen to the fragility of ‘Disappear’, for instance, or the anxiety of the lead single ‘Baby Blues’. It is a powerful, almost orchestral, song exploring how we are formed by experiences when young. It’s a song exploring the breakdown of adult relationships as seen through the eyes of children. Ungerleider has a knack for capturing simple yet searing honesty in her lyrics: “You remember how we cried that night. Please don’t leave us alone, please don’t break up our home”. It’s an honest and heartfelt song that plays with how childhood events remain with us. As Ungerleider notes: “Like ghosts, sometimes you just need to just sit with them, feel their power, and, because they feel seen, they release their hold on you for a little while.”
‘Sweet Little Sparrow’ is a more poppy, hopeful song, which sees Ungerleider explore themes of hope, dreams, and optimism in a bright, sprightly track with a rousing chorus. “I’ve been keeping my head in the crowds all days”, sings Ungerleider over some soft harmonies by Samantha Parton. The album concludes with the moody and poignant ‘Ships’, a guitar lead track that beautifully accompanies Ungerleider’s atmospheric vocal twang.
There are several guests on the album, but the force of My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider is in the world that Ungerleider creates and her characterful and quietly powerful voice. The ten tracks escort us through the song writer’s reflective yet emotionally charged world. Instruments are kept to a selective minimum. Guitar, drums, and violin feature, but the real stand out is Ungerleider’s voice. The singer possesses a soothing, dreamy presence, perfectly complemented by her strength as an established and expressive songwriter.
Produced by Jim Bryson, My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider is a sweet, wistful album. It tells a beautifully painted set of tales; rich in genuine and moving narratives. The album flirts with the sounds of Americana, including blues, country, and bluegrass but with a close eye on some nifty pop sensibilities and alt-folk. At its centre, though, My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider is an album focusing on emotion and the heart. Its serene confidence takes us on a journey through a thoroughly effective, potent, halcyon dreamscape. Each track presents a very personal world, but one which is recognisable to us all. Ungerleider has a particular talent for open-heartedly embracing us into her world. There are difficult subjects explored here, but always with the confident and mellow touch of a songwriter who knows exactly what they are doing. With her new release, we may have to bid farewell to Oh Susanna, but it is a very warm and pleasant welcome to Suzie Ungerleider.
Pre-Order My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider https://suzieungerleider.lnk.to/MyNameisSuzieUngerleider