[1] Recorded with longtime collaborator Jørgen Træen in breaks between Sundfør's travels across the world, the album represents a departure from the synth-pop of Ten Love Songs (2015) in favor of a return to her roots as a folk singer-songwriter.
[3] The album was considered to be Sundfør's international breakthrough, while also debuting at number one in Norway, receiving universal acclaim from music critics and appearing on various year-end lists.
[5] The album was mainly inspired by a journey Sundfør made, "travelling across continents to contrary environments and politically contrasting worlds from North Korea to the Amazon jungle."
[6] Unlike the self-produced Ten Love Songs, which led her to depression, Sundfør decided not to try and do everything herself this time, and worked with longtime collaborator Jørgen Træen, which she thought "was a very good idea."
Music for People in Trouble represents a departure from the synth-heavy, "disco-infused prog" Ten Love Songs (2015), with a stripped back focus on Sundfør's "high, plangent" voice and acoustic guitar and piano.
[15][16][17][14] Sundfør co-produced the album with Jørgen Træen, who could contribute through his arrangements, "such as the sounds of an old lady in her apartment and a ticking grandfather clock on 'Bedtime Story' or the spoken-word intro on 'Music for People in Trouble'."
Sundfør has cited several influences on this album, including Carole King, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, and alternative music.
[9] The Daily Telegraph described the album's subject matter as "dark, conflating a destructive personal relationship with environmental damage, heartbreak and climate change," while also noting that it represents an almost complete about-turn from the shiny commercialism of Ten Love Songs.
"[11] On the second track "Reincarnation", which is the first she wrote for the album,[6] Sundfør sings over an "achingly beautiful" slide guitar about disbelieving the news, questioning mortality and the nature of love.
"[10] The track begins "with the sound of a mountain stream and all manner of bird calls, it blossoms out into a modern madrigal, with lute-like guitar and Sundfør's voice restrained and husky.
About halfway through, it falls away to leave a hellish, industrial synth drone, reminiscent of the textures of the Knife's Shaking the Habitual, or the ambient sound design of a David Lynch soundtrack.
"[19] Described as "an art installation-like interlude,"[10] the "glitchy"[14] title track begins with an echoing voice punctuated by bleeps (samples of Gesang der Jünglinge by Karlheinz Stockhausen)[20] that recall sound effects from 80s sci-fi, and follows with a spoken passage from naturist Andres Roberts, in which he responds to the question: "What would you say to someone who has given up on life?"
[19] The "spooky, meditative" track "Bedtime Story" contains "ambient footsteps, cell phone beeps, and wandering clarinet that highlight the cruel boredom of insomnia.
"[8][16] The Quietus described it as the album's "most lyrical moment: a sweeping fusion of piano and clarinet that recalls the heady, jazz-flecked adventuring of Joni Mitchell and her woodwind virtuoso Tom Scott on For the Roses.
"[18] The album closes with "Mountaineers", a "gothically glittering" duet with American singer-songwriter John Grant, who "chants a tale of romantic breakdown and plane crashes over an ominous drone reminiscent of late-period Scott Walker.
"[10] Claire Biddles from The Line of Best Fit said "Music for People in Trouble perhaps doesn't have the crossover appeal that Ten Love Songs had, and its head-on engagement with contemporary struggles will certainly not be for everyone.
"[17] Writing for The Observer, Emily Mackay said, "as the album's title suggests, Sundfør wishes to pour oil on the choppy waters of a weary world, and the warm clarity of her voice offers beautiful moments of respite.
"[18] The Quietus' Gary Kaill praised the album, saying Sundfør "turns experience into art with a painter's eye and a warrior's heart, and Music for People in Trouble is a profoundly humanist work: her finest by some distance.
It's not all brooding bombast, though: the pastoral folk of 'The Golden Age', with its bleeping Moog melody, gives it a touch of Wicker Man weirdness, a gloriously avant garde moment that leaks into the haunting finale of the John Grant duet 'Mountaineers', which soars to anthemic levels of beauty.
"[25] James Christopher Monger of AllMusic said the album "is rooted in empathy, and even at its most cynical – the woebegone 'No One Believes in Love Anymore' comes to mind – the warmth of its core radiates outward.
"[35] Clash's Luke Winstanley wrote, "Music for People in Trouble takes more creative risks than its predecessor, and though this may deter some, it proves to be a decision that pays off.
"[34] Spectrum Culture's John Paul praised the album, writing, "Music for People in Trouble is nothing short of a personal and professional triumph for Susanne Sundfør.