Verity Susman is an English songwriter, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as a founding member and the frontwoman of the English indie rock band

Electrelane Electrelane is an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band consists of Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music draws from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, S ...

Music career

Following classical piano, clarinet and saxophone lessons as a child and teenager, Susman formed the band

with drummer Emma Gaze soon after leaving school. The band released four albums, an EP, multiple singles and a Singles, B-Sides & Live compilation album between 2000 and 2007. Verity was lead singer and played keyboards, guitar and saxophone in the band. As they evolved from the post-rock sound of their mostly instrumental first album

Rock It to the Moon ''Rock It to the Moon'' is the debut album by English rock group Electrelane. It was released on compact disc in the UK in 2001 by Let's Rock!, and issued by Mr. Lady Records in the US in 2002. Too Pure, the record label Electrelane signed w ...

, Verity Susman grew bolder in her role as the arranger and main songwriting force in the band. She took on singing and lyric-writing duties on their acclaimed second album The Power Out, also composing and arranging a song for choir called The Valleys, with lyrics drawn from

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

's poem A Letter Home. Both this album and the following, more experimental,

Axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axis (disambiguation) An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics ...

, were recorded by

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refused to take any roya ...

. Albini praised Susman's musical abilities during an Q & A saying "Verity is a fantastic musician with the capacity to hear impossibly complex arrangements in her head, and I admire that". In 2007 Susman started performing live and releasing music as the solo project Vera November. The single ''Red Dream'' was released as part of Too Pure Singles Club in 2007. She also took part in

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ri ...

's Arthur Russell cover project, singing ''Our Last Night Together'' on

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

’s

Four Songs by Arthur Russell ''Four Songs by Arthur Russell'' is a tribute EP of songs written by Arthur Russell, featuring Vera November, Jens Lekman, Taken By Trees, and Joel Gibb. Track listing #"Our Last Night Together" (Vera November) #"A Little Lost" (Jens Lekman ...

compilation EP. Writing for

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

, Mark Hogan declared: "Susman ..steals the show, ..(her) flitting, double-tracked vocals give the melancholy lyrics an emotional reality only heightened by her bare, evocative piano playing (Lekman name-checks Satie). Susman's version of the song was remixed in 2012 by

Nicolás Jaar Nicolas Jaar (, ; né Nicolás Jaar; born January 10, 1990) is a Chilean-American composer and musician. Among his notable works are the albums ''Space Is Only Noise'' (2011), Sirens (Nicolas Jaar album), ''Sirens'' (2016), and ''Cenizas'' (2020 ...

for his BBC Essential Mix as ''Last Night Together (You're Coming Back Edit)''. In the 2010s Susman deepened her composition skills with a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

degree in Studio Composition from

Goldsmiths College, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. This led her to compose several Electroacoustic pieces, focusing particularly on cut-up spoken word in works akin to forms of

sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or Musical composition, compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as musique concrè ...

and

sound poetry Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literary and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poe ...

. This experimentalism informed subsequent compositions, including most notably a commission by

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

magazine for their

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Centenary concert series in 2012; and in 2013, a commission by Scottish Film to perform a live original soundtrack for the 1922

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he was best known for his 1922 film '' Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') ...

film

Häxan ''Häxan'' (, ''The Witch''; ''Heksen'' , ''The Witch''; English: ''The Witches''; released in the US in 1968 as ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') is a 1922 Swedish-Danish silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christense ...

as part of

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

's Gothic Season . Verity's performances of the soundtrack in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow proved popular and she was asked to reprise the live score in Paris in 2019. Further commissions followed, including a soundtrack for contemporary dance company Project O's Voodoo performance at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

in 2017. Susman composed her first original soundtrack for a feature film in 2013 when French filmmaker

Katell Quillévéré Katell Quillévéré (; born 30 January 1980) is a French filmmaker. Early life Quillévéré is the daughter of an IT worker and science teacher. She was born and brought up in the Ivory Coast until the age of five. She comes from a Breton fa ...

asked her to write the score for the

Adèle Haenel Adèle Haenel (; born 11 February 1989) is a French actress and far-left political activist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two César Awards from seven nominations and one Lumière Award from two nominations. Haenel bega ...

-starring Suzanne. That same year, she used Soundcloud to release some solo tracks under her own name; the song ''To Make You Afraid'' was singled out as a Baroque Pop gem by

. Also in 2013, Verity performed

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

' score ''To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desperation'' in an art film by Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, with fellow musical artists

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

and

Ray Aggs Ray Aggs is a musician based in Glasgow. Primarily known for their distinctive guitar work, influenced by both West African highlife and post-punk, they also sing and play the violin. Career They have been playing with the band Trash Kit since ...

amongst others. Throughout the 2010s Verity diversified the scope of her live performances, performing solo shows of ever-evolving new material, often involving multimedia elements, most notably at

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

’s

Meltdown Festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

and in support of the band Savages and French singer

Étienne Daho Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981. Career Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery vo ...

. During this time, she was also playing saxophone in free improvisation groups, including with The London Improvisers Orchestra, with

Maya Dunietz Maya Dunietz (; April 16, 1981 in Tel Aviv), is an Israeli musician and artist, combining a solo career with collaborations with renowned musicians: Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury, Habiluim, and many others. Her w ...

, and in groups including

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

and fellow Too Pure alumnus

Matthew Simms Matthew Simms is an English guitarist best known for his work with the band Wire. Simms formed the band It Hugs Back with schoolmates Paul Michael, Jack Theedom and Will Blackaby. Their debut album, ''Inside Your Guitar'', was released in 2009 ...

( It Hugs Back,

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

). It is with the latter that Susman started working during the pandemic on soundtracks to the Sonia Gonzalez-directed documentary ''Women Against The Bomb'' and the

Kevin Hegge Kevin Hegge is a Canadian documentary filmmaker based in Toronto, Ontario, who specializes in films about social and musical subcultures. He is most noted for his film '' She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column'', which was the winner of the award ...

-directed documentary ''

Tramps! ''Tramps!'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Kevin Hegge and released in 2022.Rachel Ho"'TRAMPS!' Celebrates and Mourns London's New Romantic Movement" ''Exclaim!'', May 31, 2022. The film is a portrait of the New Romantic scene, inclu ...

''. Both documentaries premiered in March 2022 (the former being televised). Verity Susman and

have officialised their partnership as "Susman and Simms". Susman, Simms and Kat Duma received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination for Best Original Music in a Documentary at the

12th Canadian Screen Awards The 12th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They were held at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto ...

in 2024 for their work on ''Tramps!''. As a guest musician-writer Verity has recorded piano and keyboards on songs by Taken By Trees and

, and saxophone on songs by Beatrice Dillon, Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains,

Trash Kit Trash Kit is a British post-punk trio formed in 2008 in London. Its members are Ray Aggs (guitar and vocals), Gill Partington (bass guitar), and Rachel Horwood (drums and vocals). Original bassist Ros Murray was previously of the band Electrelan ...

, It Hugs Back and Bamboo. She has performed live as a guest musician with

The Raincoats The Raincoats are a British post-punk band formed in 1977. They were founded by Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) while the two were students at Hornsey College of Art in London. Other prominent members have included ...

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lockett Pundt (guitar, vocals, ...

and

The Hidden Cameras The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music". Their live performances have been elaborat ...

. Verity is currently putting the finishing touches to her debut album as a solo artist.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Susman, Verity English women songwriters English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English film score composers British women film score composers Experimental composers Electroacoustic music composers Choral composers 21st-century English women composers 21st-century English composers English music arrangers English alternative rock musicians Art rock musicians Art pop musicians Experimental pop musicians English experimental musicians British alternative rock singers English punk rock singers English rock singers English rock pianists English rock keyboardists Alternative rock pianists Alternative rock keyboardists English rock saxophonists British women saxophonists British feminist musicians English feminists LGBTQ film score composers English LGBTQ songwriters English LGBTQ singers English LGBTQ composers Queer composers Queer singer-songwriters British women punk rock singers English women rock singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century multi-instrumentalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English women pianists