“I always thought we were a pop band whose music was accessible to everyone,” says Liam O’Neill, drummer of Suuns. And he’s not wrong, as long as you can stomach the noisy electronic orchestrations of the experimental rock trio’s early albums, which have softened on this inviting sixth full-length entitled The Breaks — no connection to rap pioneer Kurtis Blow’s old hit, though breakbeats abound in these breakup-themed songs.
We’re more used to talking to the band’s singer, guitarist and main songwriter, Ben Shemie. This time, the friendly O’Neill takes over. Ben, he tells us, has been living in Paris since the pandemic, “but he came to Montreal to record the album,” explains the drummer. We tried to work remotely by sending each other emails, but it didn’t work. I think we’re a bit old school in our way of working: we repeat the songs live In the studio, we record all of that, we listen to it again and we rework it.”
It is thus assumed that the idea of rupture germinated in the head of Shemie the exile, and with it that of new departures and trajectories, evoked from the soaring Vanishing Point at the opening of the album, the singer’s voice disguised by studio effects, stretched out on a languid breakbeat joined by an electric piano motif and a clarinet note.
In the middle of the album is planted Road Signs and Meanings ; the rhythm is sustained, linear, the piano, the guitars full of echo, the percussions are intertwined, the album finds its cruising speed, between rock and electronic music, a little Primal Scream, a lot of trip-hop, “these musical references from the 1990s which are gradually becoming trendy again”, recognizes Liam who, apart from Suuns, accompanies La Force (Ariel Engle) and the folk musician Tim Baker (from Hey Rosetta!).
Ben Shemie composes 80 percent of the material on the albums, Liam explains. “All the ideas behind the songs come from Ben, but the orchestration work, the sound of the songs, the making of the albums, it’s a three-way effort.” Shemie, who studied composition (acoustic and electronic) at the University of Montreal and has released three solo albums, is a tireless creator, O’Neill says: “When I got married a few years ago, Ben showed up at the reception with a wooden bench he’d built with his own hands, which was beautiful. But Ben’s not a woodworker! He spent months working on that bench in a small workshop. He’s always got a lot of projects in mind.”
More accessible
It’s as if the distance between Ben and his colleagues had transformed, clarified, the musical proposition of Suuns: “Like all constraints, they offer as many possibilities as they take away from us,” philosophizes Liam O’Neill. It forced us to be more focused, to be more productive with the time we had. In the past, going to the studio meant hanging out, having a drink, then jamming; today, we make schedules, we show up at the studio in the morning and work until 5 p.m. Our process is less scattered,” and it can be heard on this album, which, following the momentum of the tempered grooves of the previous one The Witness (2021), brings the songs back to their essence, without getting lost on the road (with its 6 min 57 s, Vanishing Point in opening is the longest).
When Suuns was working on The Witnessthe goal was very precisely to make the band’s sound more accessible, “as if to respond to what we were experiencing at the chaotic and intense moment” that we went through during the pandemic. “The album sounded like a band trying to slow down a little, as we had to stop touring,” Liam continues. “We weren’t even trying to reach a wider audience, just to make the music we felt. After years of touring non-stop, we had to stop before we explode. We weren’t really interested in making a more punk album” like the first ones were Zeroes QC (2010) and Images of the future (2013), which established Suuns on the global indie scene.
“I never really understood why we were called an experimental band,” Liam adds. “And I don’t even think we’ve changed that much over time, but we probably have; it’s like having a kid and not realising how fast they’re growing up, you know? I always thought of us as a pop band at heart – okay, probably more experimental when we started out. But I think it was more of a way of hiding the songwriting: over time, we’ve figured out how to write better songs, so we don’t need to dress them up with a lot of weird sounds.”
Suuns will spend September touring Europe, where he has built up an audience over the years. North American shows will follow in 2025: “When we play in Montreal, the show will be well-rehearsed, unlike our previous tours, which we launched at home!” the drummer rejoices.
The album The Breaks by Suuns is available on the Joyful Noise Recordings label.