{"title":"SUUNS","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-breaks","title":"The Breaks","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eOn their new LP \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Breaks\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003eSUUNS \u003c\/b\u003efind themselves lost in limbo. The trio of \u003cb\u003eBen Shemie, Joseph Yarmush \u003c\/b\u003eand \u003cb\u003eLiam O’ Neill\u003c\/b\u003e leans more zealously than ever into their pop instincts. Yet remarkably enough, with that same dauntless abandon, \u003cb\u003eSUUNS \u003c\/b\u003ehave mined a more extreme sonic palette this time around, one that stretches far beyond their core fundamentals as a band \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Breaks\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e finds Shemie, O’Neill and Yarmush gleefully experimenting with loops, synths, samples and MIDI instruments like a post-millennial Tangerine Dream messing with downtempo triphop beats.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eForged between countless plane rides, road trips, van tours and text threads,\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Breaks\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e became a product of endurance and a lot of trial-and-error. It’s a record composed in tight fissions of freedom, where spells of whispered intimacy – like on the stunning ballad “Doreen” – are allowed to branch out into the vast glacial dreamscapes of the album’s majestic title track. It captures SUUNS at their most panoramic, curious and exuberant: a constant relay of being adrift and enlightened anew, geared up to eleven. And guess what: the wheels keep on spinning.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Red)","offer_id":46744085889238,"sku":"602309899394","price":29.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":46744085922006,"sku":"602309899028","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744085954774,"sku":"680341756011","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744085987542,"sku":"680341756011","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/JNR456CoverArtFinal_1_49c44749-db41-44c9-8e2b-f2f0304517a8.jpg?v=1744842586"},{"product_id":"the-witness","title":"The Witness","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eMontreal band \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eSUUNS\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e – comprised of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eBen Shemie\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eJoe Yarmush\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eLiam O’Neill\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e – announce their new album, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThe Witness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e, out \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eSeptember 3\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003erd\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e via \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eSecret City Records\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e in Canada (Joyful Noise ex-Canada).\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThe Witness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e marks a shrewdly offbeat left turn, and shows SUUNS in their most comfortable, candid state. Self-recorded and self-produced over the majority of 2020, a year of strife, solitude and reflection, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThe Witness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e finds the band holding a magnifying glass over their own default state of playing and performing. It’s a swift departure from previous album \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eFelt\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e, and exults in harvesting haphazard ideas in their embryonic, demoed versions, as if letting loose a glorious fireworks display into the heavens.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"134233117\":true,\"134233118\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eWith the departure of Max Henry as a full-time member in 2018 and Shemie now living an ocean apart in Paris, a fresh challenge manifested for the trio to find each other again, both socially and creatively. More than any other SUUNS record, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThe Witness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e employs a jazz mentality of designing a continuous vibe over the notion of separate chapters. There’s a level of relaxation, of accepting the band’s primal instincts, and a concentrated attempt to maximize and revise said instincts. Yarmush elaborates: “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eIt was a conscious decision to make the album sound like one song. We wanted to calm down a bit, even during the mixing process: our notes were simply ‘you have to settle down’. I couldn’t technically explain what I meant by that, but the songs needed to settle down. We were basically trying to hold back all the bombastic tendencies and make things sound very subtle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"134233117\":true,\"134233118\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eLead single “Witness Protection,” which Max Henry worked on in his new role as studio collaborator, pulses with a simple, bright beat, and fuzz-tinged vocals: “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThere’s a hole in the sky \/\/ It’s all over the news \/\/ Im looking through a lens, reflection never \/\/ ends through a broken mirror \/\/ Call in the witness \/\/ To take a stand.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e” In the accompanying video, directed by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eAntoine Dasseville\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e, a person is watching a television that flickers with destructive scenes. As it continues, the video grows darker and noisier. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"134233117\":true,\"134233118\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eFor a band known for its cryptic magnetism, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThe Witness\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e marks SUUNS’ most generous, stripped-down and affecting work to date. “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eThere’s always this restraint in SUUNS: the question of ‘how long can we hold off?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e,” explains Shemie. “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003eI think it’s beautiful that way because it always brings out something unexpected. But if you’re willing to stick with us – at a show or through our music in general – it will pay off. It might take a while to get there, but we will drop a beat for you eventually. I love that we’ve been able to stick to the minimal side of things, and just let it breathe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"134233117\":true,\"134233118\":true,\"201341983\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (Translucent Turquoise)","offer_id":46744087560406,"sku":"680341156019","price":27.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":46744087593174,"sku":"680341156026","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744087625942,"sku":"680341156002","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744087658710,"sku":"680341156002","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/SUUNS_THEWITNESS_DIGITALCOVERARTWORK_Hires_7272cd75-2bd5-46d4-b2b9-c01817e7a09c.jpg?v=1744842597"},{"product_id":"fiction","title":"FICTION","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMontreal-based band \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eSUUNS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, comprised of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eBen Shemie\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoe Yarmush\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiam O’Neill\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, announce their \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003enew\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFICTION\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eEP\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eout \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eOctober 30th.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSUUNS are future-oriented. New sounds, new techniques, new ways of thinking; above all, new environments are the lifeblood of the band. And true to form, here on the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFICTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e EP, SUUNS are exploring fresh processes as a result of their current surroundings and global circumstances. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFICTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e EP, new sounds and sonic directions are fashioned out of old. A year-long period of limited resources and contact inspired the band to reflect on the various environments in which they’ve created music over the years: to comb through their previous sounds and creative approaches, and fuse them together with new ideas, ultimately producing a sort of future\/past alchemy. The \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFICTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e EP is as much a project of curation as it is one of creation: sifting, re-imagining, and re-framing, sometimes completely disassembling and then building from the ground up. Each song is a live-off-the-floor recording that was then taken into isolation and re-worked. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs much as the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFICTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e EP is a project born of introspection and reflection, it’s equally one for which SUUNS sought inspiration from outside. Longtime friend of the band\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eRadwan Ghazi Moumneh\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eJerusalem In My Heart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e), bringing relentless claps and buzuks, leads SUUNS through “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eBREATHE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e,” while \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmber Webber\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eLightning Dust\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e) sings a mournful siren song on the penultimate track, “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eDEATH\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.” Finally, the ghost of Frank Zappa lends the band his fervent societal diagnosis, as relevant today as it ever was, on “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eTROUBLE EVERY DAY.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZappa’s darkly prophetic message, repurposed from 1966 to meet our moment, is an apt referent. These dualities, confluences of past and future, of introspection and influence, are what defines the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFICTION\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e EP. Produced from old remnants, it is entirely new; done in relative isolation, and is also something of a live record. The songs have been meticulously reworked, and yet the entire collection feels deployed with hardly any reflection, done in one breath. It’s the sound of SUUNS regrouping, and then poised, and then driving towards the future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (White)","offer_id":46744088576214,"sku":"680341086019","price":22.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744088608982,"sku":"680341086002","price":5.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744088641750,"sku":"680341086002","price":5.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/Suuns_FICTION_Hires_2.jpg?v=1744842610"},{"product_id":"felt","title":"Felt","description":"\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThis record is definitely looser than our last one\u003c\/em\u003e,” says Suuns singer\/guitarist Ben Shemie. “\u003cem\u003eIt’s not as clinical. There’s more swagger.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can hear this freedom flowing through the 11 tracks on Felt. It’s both a continuation and rebirth, the Montreal quartet returning to beloved local facility Breakglass Studios but this time recording themselves at their own pace, over five fertile sessions spanning several months. A simultaneous stretching out and honing in, mixed to audiophile perfection by St Vincent producer John Congleton who flew up especially from Dallas to deploy his award-winning skills in situ.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile maintaining a pleasing economy, the informality of self-production has enabled Suuns to explore bright new vistas. “\u003cem\u003eUs doing it ourselves, that process was like a very receptive, limitless workshop to just try out ideas,\u003c\/em\u003e” declares drummer Liam O’Neill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHence the hypnotic future-pop percolations of X-ALT or the way Watch You, Watch Me’s organic\/synthetic rush builds and and builds atop elevatory rhythm and the ecstatic, Harmonia-meets-Game Boy patterns. As befits a band who cite Andy Stott and My Bloody Valentine as touchstones yet don’t sound like either, Suuns have always seamlessly blended the programmed and played. Never mere fusionists, it’s now pointless trying to decode their sonic signature as ‘dance music that rocks’ or vice versa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther notable developments are singer\/guitarist Ben Shemie’s newfound vocal range and buoyant melodies, showcased in such wholly unexpected delights as the yearning lilt of Make It Real and sax-smoothed Peace And Love, which sincerely comes on like a post-punk Sade. There’s a previously unheard confidence to the singer and lyricist, perhaps best exemplified by centre-piece Control, where his hushed tones are complemented by a bilingual voice musing on dreams and reality, sampled from an old Montreal social art project.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuuns are proud of their roots in Canada’s most socialist province, whilst not sounding quite like anything else the city has produced. “\u003cem\u003eConditions are great for musicians, but not so much if you want to be a high powered investment banker,\u003c\/em\u003e” laughs Ben. “\u003cem\u003eIf I could compare Montreal to anywhere I’d say it’s kind of like Berlin, in the sense that there isn’t a huge industry, so there isn’t that much money. Plus you have to speak French if you want a career, so that stops too many people moving here. It’s gentrifying at a slower rate than other cities.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuebecois natives Shemie and guitarist Joseph Yarmush founded the group just over a decade ago, the latter having moved to Montreal from a nearby village. The only member not to be formally schooled in jazz, guitarist Yarmush studied photography and utilized his visual training to help realize Shemie’s novel concept for the eye-catching album artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI was at a barbecue last summer and there were balloons everywhere,\u003c\/em\u003e” recalls the singer. “\u003cem\u003eI like this idea of pressure, resistance, and pushing against something just before it brakes. And there is something strangely subversive about a finger pushing into a balloon. It seemed to fit the vibe of the record we were making. We made plaster casts of our hands, going for a non-denominational statue vibe. Joe came up with the colour scheme, the sickly green background, and shot the whole cover in an hour.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s a suitably outré image for Felt, which breaks with Suuns’ earlier darkness for a more optimistic ambience. The record’s playful atmosphere is echoed by its double meaning title. “\u003cem\u003eSome people might think of the material,\u003c\/em\u003e” muses Ben. “\u003cem\u003eI like that that could be misconstrued. Also it’s to have felt and not to feel – a little introspective, but that feeling’s in the past.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":46744089428182,"sku":"656605036014","price":24.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":46744089460950,"sku":"680341790022","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744089493718,"sku":"680341790008","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744089526486,"sku":"680341790008","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/SCR079_Suuns_Felt_AlbumCover_hires_68bcb5e7-1830-4dc7-ad0b-151d081a1da4.jpg?v=1744842621"},{"product_id":"hold-still-remixes","title":"Hold\/Still (Remixes)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlmost a year to the day from the release of \u003cstrong\u003eSUUNS\u003c\/strong\u003e' most-far reaching and creative record \u003cstrong\u003eHold\/Still\u003c\/strong\u003e comes an album of remixes. Spanning an incredibly diverse range of artists and sounds, each one of these remixes takes the original track and twists and turns it into some very unique. The source material leant itself perfectly to a remix project – these are songs that are complex, layered, experimental.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe remixes vary from the dancefloor fillers from the likes of Redshape or Marvin \u0026amp; Guy through to the ambience of Lee Gamble and Beatrice Dillon and the techno of VRIL, and shows Suuns as one of the most forward thinking and fertile bands around. Time to go and get lost.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":46744089985238,"sku":"656605034911","price":24.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744090018006,"sku":"680341640006","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744090050774,"sku":"680341640006","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/hsremixes_32f632d3-d955-4762-93cb-a034bec6c4dd.jpg?v=1744842633"},{"product_id":"hold-still","title":"Hold\/Still","description":"\u003cp\u003eHold\/Still, the third studio album from Suuns, is an enigmatic thing: an eerily beautiful, meticulously played suite of music that embraces opposites and makes a virtue of cognitive dissonance. It is a record that does not give up its secrets easily. The 11 songs within are simultaneously psychedelic, but austere; sensual, but cold; organic, but electronic; tense sometimes to the brink of mania, but always retaining perfect poise and control. “There’s an element of this album that resists you as a listener, and I think that’s because of these constantly opposing forces,” says drummer Liam O’Neill. “Listen to the song ‘Brainwash’, for instance, “It’s a very soft, lyrical guitar song, existing alongside extremely aggressive and sparse drum textures. It inhabits these two worlds at the same time.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the beginning, Suuns (you pronounce it “soons”, and it translates as “zeroes” in Thai) have sought to do things differently. They formed in Montreal 2007, when singer\/guitarist Ben Shemie and guitarist Joe Yarmush got together to work on some demos, soon to be joined by Liam, Ben’s old schoolfriend, on drums and Max Henry on synth. Their group’s first two records, 2010’s Zeroes QC and 2012’s Polaris Prize-nominated Images Du Futur – both released on Secretly Canadian – were immediate critical hits, and Suuns soon found themselves part of a late ‘00s musical renaissance in the city, alongside fellow groups like The Besnard Lakes, Islands and Land Of Talk. Still, at the same time, Suuns feel remote from the big, baroque ensembles and apocalyptic orchestras that typify the Montreal scene. “We write quite minimal music,” thinks Ben. “They’re not traditional song forms, sometimes they don’t really go anywhere – but they have their own kind of logic.” Or as Joe puts it: “It’s pop music, but sitting in this evil space.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter two records produced by their friend Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes at his Montreal studio Breakglass, Suuns decided Hold\/Still demanded a different approach. In May 2015, they decamped to Dallas, Texas to work with Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (St Vincent, The War On Drugs, Sleater-Kinney). For three intense weeks, the four recorded in Congleton’s studio by day, the producer driving them to capture perfect live takes with virtually no overdubbing. At night, they returned to their cramped apartment and stewed. “Recording in Montreal, it’s more of a party atmosphere,” says Joe. “Here it felt like we were on a mission. We were looking for something to take us out of our element, or that might seep into our music.” Luckily, the effect was galvanizing. Under Congleton’s instruction, ‘Translate’ and ‘Infinity’, songs the group had been reworking for years, suddenly found their form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is undoubtedly Suuns’ most focused album to date, the sound of a band working in mental lockstep, crafting a guitar music that feels unbeholden to clear traditions or genre brackets. From the haunted electronic blues of ‘Nobody Can Save Me Now’ to throbbing seven-minute centrepiece ‘Careful’, Hold\/Still foregrounds the work of Max, a synthesizer obsessive who builds his own patches and confesses to using cranky or budget equipment as well as top-of-the-range kit because “[good gear] does all the work for you, and that’s not always fun”. Certainly, this is a band as inspired by the dark groove textures of Andy Stott, the flourishing arpeggios of James Holden or the serrated productions of Death Grips as anything familiarly rock. “Things don’t feel right until they’ve been touched or cast over in an electronic light,” elaborates Liam. “It’s rare that acoustic drum kit, guitar, and bass comprise a finished product for us. For a song to be Suuns, it has to be coloured by electronics”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCertainly this remains a band in love with the aesthetic of obscurity. The album cover is an image of Ben’s former workmate Nahka, who was captured by photographer Caroline Desilets using a pinhole camera with a four-minute exposure time – Hold\/Still, indeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn another contradiction, this record finds Ben’s vocals far more enunciated and upfront than before. If there are themes that tie Hold\/Still together, says Ben, they might be investigations “about sex… perhaps not the act specifically, just [themes] of a sexual nature. But there’s also a spiritual undertone that points to another kind of searching.” The sexual is illustrated in the dark romance of ‘Careful’, while longing becomes both sexual and spiritual in the thirsty pleas of ‘Instrument’: “I wanna believe\/I wanna receive…” The spiritual takes over on the back half of the record. ‘Nobody Can Save Me Now’ evokes artist Tracey Emin’s ghostly invocation For You at the Liverpool Cathedral: “I felt you \/ and I knew that you loved me”, while side opener ‘Brainwash’ wonders: “Do you see, all seeing? \/ Do you know, all knowing?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a cultural centre like Montreal, bands can get too comfortable playing to their peers. Suuns, though, feel like a band always looking to the nearest border. They found early audiences in France and in Belgium, where they curated the Sonic City Festival in 2012, booking acts as diverse as Swans, Tim Hecker and Demdike Stare. Meanwhile, the last couple of years have seen them tour as far afield as Mexico, Morocco, Beirut, Taiwan and Istanbul – sometimes with friend Radwan Moumneh of the multimedia project Jerusalem In My Heart, with whom they released a brilliant collaborative record, Suuns And Jerusalem In My Heart last year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We tour a lot as a band and we’ve been all over the map at this point,” says Ben. “There is a concerted effort on our part, when the opportunity arises, to do that. It’s like, this time, let’s try to go further east, let’s try to go further south. You find yourself playing in front of people who don’t get bands playing in front of them often, and that can be really fun.” In short, good things happen when you venture outside of your comfort zone – a truth that you could equally apply to Hold\/Still itself: an album which derives its eerie power from simmering tensions and strange, stark juxtapositions, and in doing so, directs rock music down a new, unventured path.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":46744090411222,"sku":"656605032917","price":24.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":46744090443990,"sku":"680341550022","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744090476758,"sku":"680341550039","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744090509526,"sku":"680341550039","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/Suuns_HoldStill_AlbumCover_hires_1bba2bf3-cd5e-4b64-9a28-625942bc4543.jpg?v=1744842647"},{"product_id":"images-du-futur","title":"Images du futur","description":"\u003cp\u003eMontreal’s Suuns spent the winter and spring of 2012 writing and recording Images du Futur. Their sessions were concurrent with the Quebec student protests that started in February of 2012 and continued through September of this year. Set against a backdrop lead singer Ben Shemie calls “a climate of excitement, hope and frustration,” Suuns aimed for an expansion of the musical ideas on their critically accalimed first record, Zeroes, QC. Images du Futur builds upon the intensity of their debut, but often does so through new textures and subtler dynamic maneuvering. Album standout “Edie’s Dream” begins with a single bass line repeated from which layers build \u0026amp; rise — first drums, then a wash of white noise; echoes of guitar, then chanted vocals. The song’s clever shifts are jazz-touched and delicate, almost subliminal. It all makes for a stark, skeletal boogie — more an astral projection than a song. “Edie’s Dream” exemplifies the restraint of which Suuns is capable and works to make the unhinged moments all the more devastating.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLauded by Pitchfork and NME — the former saying “\u003cem\u003efew bands this young are operating on quite this scale, and fewer still have the brass– and the patience– to pull off a big, glitzy, complex record like Zeroes QC,\u003c\/em\u003e” and the latter declaring them 2011’s Best New Band — Suuns have deepened their approach, using minimalist techniques to create maximalist works. Produced once again by Jace Lasek from Besnard Lakes, Images blasts out of the gate with “Powers of Ten,” laying out a sort of manifesto for the record in the very first lines: “Got it together\/I read in the paper\/all of theses strangers\/stranger and stranger…\/No, no, no, no, how you try and remember\/how all of these pieces\/all fit together.” Shemie says of the process, “\u003cem\u003eAs a band we were trying to look at our music from further and further away, seeing more details in the picture as we expanded the landscape.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SUUNS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":46744090869974,"sku":"656605026015","price":15.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":46744090902742,"sku":"680341320021","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download WAV","offer_id":46744090935510,"sku":"680341320007","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Download MP3","offer_id":46744090968278,"sku":"680341320007","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/2026\/5430\/files\/SCR032_Suuns_Images_du_Futur_Album_Cover_lowres_895333b4-4555-4641-821c-c2de2a06881a.jpg?v=1744842656"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.secretcityrecords.com\/collections\/suuns.oembed","provider":"Secret City Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}