Sugaring Off: The Playlist

Sugaring Off: The Playlist is here!

Fanny britt has curated a playlist of songs that are in conversation with her recently translated novel Sugaring Off. She has also written a little introduction for the playlist. Take it away Fanny!

“Writing has always been about music, for me. In order to picture a scene, I must first hear it, feel its rhythm, and connect with it through sound and pulse. I tend to naturally create a sort of playlist when working on a project. It can happen intentionally, when exploring a time period for example, but sometimes, songs seem to stick to a project just because they mirror the mood of the characters, or my own state of being at the time of writing the book. For Sugaring Off, I was drawn to an array of genres, in part because the story follows different narrators. There is a fair amount of cover songs on it, which might reflect my fascination with reinterpretation: aren’t characters in novels, mostly “covering” the human experience, living through the same ordinary tragedies as other humans before them, but inevitably experiencing it for the first time themselves?

I also revisited choral music to immerse myself in Marion’s choir practices. But what strikes me most when looking back at my playlist is the melancholic, introspective, almost plaintive nature of many of these songs. While Adam and Marion are not particularly sympathetic characters, their suffering is deep-rooted, almost inexpressible. For Celia, grief and longing are inextricably linked to self-protection and anger. Songs like Mother, Mother, Me in 20 Years or Hope is a Dangerous Thing For a Woman like Me to Have all expertly know how to hold many complex feelings in the course of three or four minutes. This is why songwriting will always strike me as the most compelling use of language.”

– Fanny Britt

Sugaring Off Playlist 

Sweets for My Sweet – The Drifters

Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – Lana Del Rey

Moon River – Frank Ocean

Pretty Ugly – Tierra Whack

Me in 20 Years – Moses Sumney

Mother, Mother – Tracy Bonham

Teenage Blue – Dreamgirl

River – Joni Mitchell

A Case of You – Joni Mitchell

Let it Die – Feist

Sea, Sex and Sun – Serge Gainsbourg

Islands In The Stream – The Constantines with Feist

Crimson and Clover – Tommy James and The Shondells

Le retour d’un amour – Pierre Lapointe

Our House – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

I’ve Got a Crush on You –  Luscious Jackson

Pour que tu m’aimes encore – Céline Dion

J.S. Bach, Saint-John’s Passion, BWV 245, Pt.2, No.27

Find full Spotify playlist here.