We’re big fans of Suuns, the Montreal based quartet of Ben Shemie, Max Henry, Joe Yarmush and Liam O'Neill. Over the last decade they have released two excellent albums and a collaborative one with Jerusalem In My Heart which made it to our Album Picks of 2015. The band's entrancing, eerie and pulsating sound incorporates a multitude of elements and genres, from psychedelic and post-punk, to art-rock, electronic and krautrock. With their third album, Hold/Still, due mid-April, we've been itching with anticipation. So we asked the band to put together this month's mixtape, and Joe sent us this treat. Dig in.
As if we weren’t excited enough about Suuns‘ upcoming third album, Hold/Still, and following their excellent and driving first single ‘Translate’, the Montreal quartet have teased the album again. ‘Paralyzer’ is the second spectacular single to be let loose, and it comes with an accompanying video directed by Charles-André Coderre. The video is also the second to emerge from a trilogy of videos, with the third and final instalment set to drop ahead of the album’s release. What’s more, ‘Paralyzer’ has also been given the remix treatment by VRIL. Check out the video and the remix below and watch out for the release of Hold/Still on April 15th through Secret City in Canada and Secretly Canadian in the rest of the world.
Three years after their last album, and following last year’s collaborative album with Jerusalem in My Heart which was one of our 15 Picks of the Year, Suuns are back with their third album, Hold/Still. The Montreal quartet recorded the album in Dallas, Texas over the course of three weeks with John Congleton on production duties. Played as a suite of music, Hold/Still has no overdubbing with Congleton driving them to capture perfect live takes, as the press release explains.
Suuns are giving us the first taste of the album with the excellent and driving first single ‘Translate’. In the works for years and one of the last songs to be finished, it mirrors well the sound of the album – “the sound of a band working in mental lockstep, crafting guitar music that feels unbeholden to clear traditions or genre brackets”. ‘Translate’ comes with a video shot by longtime collaborator Charles-André Coderre, who’s also one half of Jerusalem In My Heart. This is the first of a trilogy of videos for the album, with the other two instalments set to emerge ahead of the album release on April 15th through Secret City in Canada and Secretly Canadian in the rest of the world. Coderre had this to say about the video:
“’Translate’, the first music video of a triptych series, is an incandescent vision. It was shot with thermal imagery. The concept was simple: film the band in their rehearsal space and transfigure the footage into something unusual and gorgeous. We experimented the different meanings of the word “translate” and explored a new film language by shooting what the human eye can’t see”.
Here’s the video.
To celebrate the album release, Suuns will embark on a world tour kicking off on March 13th at the Tremor Festival in the Azores Island, Portugal and including a London show at the ICA on May 24th.
As we had mentioned in January, Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart have an eponymous collaborative album on the way, fruit of a week-long recording session in 2012. The album drops on April 14th via Secret City in Canada and Secretly Canadian worldwide. Suuns and Jerusalem In My Heart first enticed us with ‘Gazelles In Flight’ and now they are offering an accompanying video for the track, made with found footage. Charles-André Coderre directs. Watch it below.
When two brilliant outfits like Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart team up, it’s reason to celebrate.
Ben Shemie, Liam O’Neil, Max Henry and Joseph Yarmush, who make up Suuns, and longtime friend Radwan Ghazi Moumneh of Jerusalem In My Heart rented a studio for a week back in 2012. “The idea was to collaborate on rough sketches of song ideas and to complete as much recording as possible without discrimination”, explains the press release. “The session was successful, yielding many vibe-laden songs featuring heavy analog synths, Arabic influences and electronic sensibilities.”
Both bands released albums and went on tour following these recordings, only to come back to them last summer, when they overdubbed and re-worked the songs. The result will drop in the form of self-titled collaborative album, on April 14th via Secretly Canadian and Secret City. Speaking about it, Suuns’ Shemie said “It’s not a Suuns record, it’s not a Jerusalem In My Heart record. It’s really a product of 5 musicians that had spent a lot of time on tour listening to music together.”
To get us enticed, Suuns and Jerusalem In My Heart are offering a first tremendous taste from the upcoming release. Listen to ‘Gazelles In Flight’ now.
Suuns‘ second album, Images Du Futur, will see the light of day on March 5h via Secretly Canadian. Like their 2010 debut Zeroes, QC, Images Du Futur was also produced by The Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek.
The Montreal band, comprising Ben Shemie, Max Henry, Liam O’Neill and Joseph Yarmush, have previously released the lead single, ‘Edie’s Dream’, and they have just unveiled an accompanying video for the track. Directed by themselves, the video was filmed in the Quebec woods where Suuns spent some time writing and recording the forthcoming album. Here’s what the foursome said about ‘Edie’s Dream’.
“At first, ‘Edie’s Dream’ started as a kind of nightmare, with burial themes and the cold and lonely woods. But gradually, it melted into a kind of bittersweet daydream. Edie is stunning, she is family to the band and at only 13, she carries herself with the poise and confidence of someone who understands the music, understands the cold, understands dreaming and its different layers.”
