Suuns‘ new album, The Witness, is out tomorrow and following two previously shared singles, the Canadian outfit unleashed this week a new single called ‘The Trilogy’. The track comes with a visual accompaniment, with direction courtesy of Antoine Dasseville. Watch it below.
The Witness is out on September 3rd through Joyful Noise Recordings
September 3rd will see the release of Suuns‘ new album, The Witness, through Joyful Noise. After teasing it with the lead single ‘Witness Protection’, the Canadian band are offering another glimpse into the album with new single ‘C-Thru’. “A lot of the slower and more delicate songs on this record required quite some finesse, and after all that careful work we needed a good romp,” explained the band’s Liam O’Neill. “SUUNS at our best is always secretly a little bit ‘fun,’ so when Ben writes an uncomplicated song with a good melody, we try not to overthink it – we try and get the sound of us having fun with it on tape.”
‘C-Thru’ comes with an accompanying video directed by Jared Raab and Luca Tarantini, who had this to say about it:
“‘C-Thru’ was a song that seemed to ask for an abstract and difficult image. Perhaps we were feeling exhausted from having to see everything on a screen, but the experience of making the video was a lot like viewing it. We were slowly burying ourselves under a layer after layer of static textures. We live in a world mediated more and more by screens and we started to see the song as representing something more meaningful, out of sight, under the surface. It’s quite literally a trick of the eyes. It’s an image underneath another image.”
Watch the video below.
We’re big fans of Suuns, the Canadian band who boasts excellent musicianship, reflected and augmented on live shows. So we’re excited to know they have a new album on the way called The Witness. “There’s something interesting about the idea of a collective witness, being a witness to the time we’re living in now,” Ben Shemie notes. “And the connectedness of what we all have in common. But also, literally: bearing witness to all sorts of things and how that desensitises you. There’s a recurring line that comes back on the record: “I know that you’ve seen it too.” A song like ‘Clarity’ is also about pulling the veil off and seeing things for what they really are. It kind of comes down to being true to yourself and acknowledging what is and isn’t real.”
Now a trio following the amicable departure of Max Henry in 2018, and with Shemie living in Paris, Suuns had “to find each other again, both socially and creatively.” Suuns have been touring relentlessly in both Europe and North America in recent years and just like their live shows, the upcoming album sees them incorporate more spontaneous moments. “We just do that more improvised stuff so naturally live,” Joe Yarmush commented. “It’s kind of weird that it hasn’t been a big part of our albums up till now.. We’re trying to embrace that side of the band for sure. That’s also part of SUUNS just being the three of us now.”
The Witness arrives on September 3rd through Joyful Noise Recordings and Suuns are giving us the first taste from it with lead single ‘Witness Protection’. The track features Max Henry as studio collaborator and comes with an accompanying video directed by Antoine Dasseville. Take a look.
In support of The Witness, Suuns have announced tour dates in Canada and Europe throught September and October. Check all their stops and other info here.
Suuns have been rolling out several versions of ‘2020’ as part of their remix project, which saw them invite other musicians they admire to remix the song lifted from their 2013 album Images Du Futur. Following the first two instalments, the Montreal based quartet have just shared the third and final one, featuring re-workings from Brazilian singer-songwriter Sessa; Montréal-Beirut contemporary Arabic audio-visual duo Jerusalem In My Heart; Brooklyn-based dream-pop project Sound of Ceres; New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player and composer Brahja Waldman, and footwork pioneer RP Boo. All the remixes are avilable digitally on Bandcamp on a Pay What You Can basis, with all proceeds going to the NAACP. Here´s the electrifying version of ‘2020’ reworked by Brahja Waldman.
Last month Suuns unveiled a remix project that saw them invite other musicians they admire to remix ‘2020’, lifted from their 2013 album Images Du Futur. The Montreal based quartet are releasing these remixes digitally on Bandcamp on a Pay What You Can basis, with all proceeds going to the NAACP. Sharing the project in instalments, the first one featured remixes from Kelman Duran; Vive La Void; Greg Saunier; KRAMER, and Brian Case.
Now they have unveiled five new versions of ‘2020’ remixed by Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon; Chicago-based clarinetist, vocalist and composer Angel Bat Dawid; ethereal experimental artist Julianna Barwick; drummer Kristopher Bowering, and Los Angeles songwriter and multi-instrumentalist SASAMI. Take a listen to Cate Le Bon’s remix below and head over to bandcamp to hear the other remixes.
A longtime favourite of ours, Suuns boast excellent musicianship reflected and augmented on live shows. The Montreal based quartet have to date released four excellent albums, including one of our Album Picks of 2016, and a collaborative one with Jerusalem In My Heart which made it to our Album Picks of 2015. Suuns’ second album, Images Du Futur, released in 2013, featured a song called ‘2020’, which according to them, “was a prediction that in the year 2020 we would discover alien life.” The band have further stated:
“Today, living in 2020, the idea of discovering life outside our planet, as huge and as awe-inspiring as that would be, seems almost quaint. There is a sentiment that if we were to discover other life, then it would somehow unify humanity. Witnessing the disparities in our own backyard begs the question as to what we would be unifying around.
This year has not been about looking into outer space, but rather, looking into oneself. This year has further underscored to us the enormous privilege that we enjoy as a band of four white guys—the freedom we enjoy touring around the world with relative ease and security, in stark contrast to the way some of our neighbors live day in and day out, just a few doors down the street. This year, having your head in the stars isn’t going to cut it.
Like it or not, in the future, ‘2020’ will be the song that people remember Suuns by. And the year 2020 will be the year that we didn’t discover aliens, but instead discovered another part of our humanity.”
Suuns have invited other musicians they admire to remix ‘2020’, and will release these digitally on Bandcamp over the next few weeks on a Pay What You Can basis, with all proceeds going to the NAACP. A first instalment has been unveiled and features stellar remix contributions from producer and multidisciplinary artist Kelman Duran; Vive La Void, the solo project of Sanae Yamada (co-founder and keyboard player of Moon Duo); Deerhoof’s drummer and composer Greg Saunier; post-punk musician, producer and Shimmy Disc founder KRAMER, and singer/guitarist Brian Case of FACS and Disappears. For a taste of what’s on offer, here’s the first remix to enjoy, courtesy of Kelman Duran.
