Susanna and the Magic Orchestra may sound like a whole busload of musicians, but it's simply Susanna Wallumrød and keyboard player Morton Qvenlid. Wallumrød tells Jim Carroll how establishing their mellow sound has been a labour of love

Susanna Wallumrød speaks as softly as she sings. The Norwegian chanteuse has spent the day selling books in an Oslo bookshop, so maybe the library atmosphere has followed her home. But, as the enchanted List of Lights and Buoys album shows, perhaps Wallumrød just does not do shouting.

It's an album of soft-toned, slow-motion electronica with Wallumrød's beguiling, emotional soulful voice adding all the Nordic pathos and ambience you could possibly need. While the Magic Orchestra - in reality, prolific Norwegian producer Morten Qvenild's one-man band - supply the moody, wintry backdrop, Wallumrød takes care of the contexts and narratives. A cover version of Dolly Parton's Jolene may have grabbed the headlines, but the real substance comes in the poetic depths of Wallumrød's own ballads.

Wallumrød's career began in the town of Kongsberg. For her, its annual jazz festival was an opportunity to sing for her supper in front of appreciative audiences and to road-test some of her own songs.

"I started early," she says. "I think I wrote my first song when I was around 14 years of age. Music has always been a big part of my life, so I guess it just happened naturally. I don't really listen so much to the first things I wrote. It feels like some sort of teenage music to me!"

Growing up also meant moving on from Kongsberg. "I think it would have been very hard to do what I do now there. It helps to be in a bigger city, to be in an environment where there's lots of music and lots of people. If you're going to establish a career as a working musician, you have to be where there are other musicians. There are many music schools here in Oslo and that helped me to find people to work with."

As luck would have it, the person she has worked most closely with also comes from Kongsberg. Morten Qvenild is possibly the busiest producer and musician on Norway's jazz-electronica scene. Besides conducting the Magical Orchestra, Qvenild has worked with The National Bank, Jaga Jazzist, The Shining, Solveig Slettahjell and, his latest project, the sparse, hushed soft shuffles of In The Country.

The pair met in Oslo in 2000. "I was looking for a piano player to play with," says Wallumrød. "I wanted to work in a duo and the piano as an instrument. I had already tried working with several musicians without any luck. I knew that Morten was playing, and I asked him if he wanted to try it out with me. Even though we are from Kongsberg, which is quite small, we didn't run into each other before we met in Oslo. We stayed in the rehearsal room for a year before our first concert and it worked out fine."

What Wallumrød and Qvenild discovered during that year rehearsing together was a signature sound. "I think we were right to spend the time we did figuring out what was to be our musical platform. I know that Morten has always been fascinated by the idea of the duet, so that was a starting point for us. It came out very well and that's probably why we are still working together."

Recording the album gave Wallumrød the opportunity finally to put her stamp on a song which had been in her head for years. "Since I was about six years old, Jolene has been one of my favourite songs. I loved it long before I even knew or understood the meaning of the words. It has always moved me in a special way and I very much wanted us to make our version of it. So we tried it and it took a long time before we got to play it the way we play it today."

Recording the album also gave her the appetite to do this full-time. Wallumrød admits that life as a full-time singer is very much the aim, albeit one she knows will take time to achieve. "It's something I'm working towards. Morten is a full-time musician and has been for a number of years. Of course, he has a number of other projects besides working with me.

"It's easier when you can play an instrument and can be hired simply to do one song or album. I could have done much more session work, but I don't like that so much. I really want to spend my time on my own music. That's my goal for the future, to be able to make a living from music."

Susanna & The Magic Orchestra play the Half Moon, Cork (October 12th), Trinity Rooms, Limerick (October 13th); Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray (October 14th) and Sugar Club, Dublin (October 15th)