The Witness
A plain orange background with the album name printed in small black text in the top-right, and the band name in the bottom-middle. Mostly in the bottom-left is a pink-and-black photograph of a shirtless man lying down in a bed.
Studio album by
Suuns
ReleasedSeptember 3, 2021
RecordedDecember 2019–September 2020
Studio
Genre
Length37:54
Label
ProducerJohn Congleton
Suuns chronology
Fiction EP
(2020)		 The Witness
(2021)

The Witness is a 2021 album by Canadian rock band Suuns, released on September 3, 2021, by Joyful Noise Recordings and Secret City Records.[4][5] The album was recorded from December 2019 through September 2020 at Breakglass Studios, with additional tracking at Studio Toute Garnie, both in Montreal.[5]

Reception

The Witness ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Beats Per Minute69/100[1]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[4]
Loud and Quiet9/10[3]
Pitchfork7.5/10[2]
Uncut7/10[8]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Witness received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from 6 critic scores.[6] Pitchfork's Phillipe Roberts called The Witness Suuns' "most cohesive album yet, the first that never gets lost in its own dark gravity", and that the album "unlocks a parallel universe for the band, and though Suuns are still sculpting monoliths to paranoia, to hear them chipping away with such steady hands is a welcome treat."[2] Loud and Quiet's Zara Hedderman called the album "immediately immersive" and "an excellent and engrossing record" on which the band includes "more patience and consideration applied to their performances."[3]

The Line of Best Fit's Aymeric Dubois wrote that "The Witness has the power to guide you in a sensory journey where abstract, psychedelic, futuristic or exoticism are mixed", but that "the only small thorn lies in the melodies and vocals, sometimes too shy or idealistic to sublimate the whole."[4] Dusted's Tim Clarke wrote that "The more you listen to The Witness, the harder it is to grasp. There’s no denying that its elusive character is part of its charm, but there are stretches where it feels more evasive than elusive, stubbornly refusing to engage more directly."[9]

Beats Per Minute's Tim Sentz wrote "Continuing down the path they set out on with 2016's Hold/Still, Canada's Suuns have finally, it seems, arrived at a rewarding destination on their latest, The Witness - an immersive electronic abyss" and that producer John Congleton helps "to uncover crevices of Suuns' noise potential", but that "Some of the lacking aspects of their previous record have carried over, albeit minutely" and "While The Witness is a certain improvement from Felt, it remains a bit mixed", concluding by calling the project "a serviceable post-punk album, one that ends up as an interesting listen but with little to pull us back to it."[1] AllMusic's Fred Thomas called the album "a consumptive listening experience, designed with precision and purpose in the same way as the immersive albums that came before it by Portishead, Talk Talk, Radiohead, and other artists willing to take their time systematically disassembling and rebuilding their music."[7]

Year-end lists

The Witness year-end lists
Publication # Ref.
Nothing but Hope and Passion 44 [10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Suuns

The Witness track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Third Stream"7:09
2."Witness Protection"4:09
3."C-Thru"3:35
4."Timebender"3:53
5."Clarity"4:31
6."The Fix"2:39
7."Go to My Head"5:56
8."The Trilogy"6:02
Total length:37:54

Personnel

  • All songs written and performed by SUUNS.
  • John Congleton – producer, mixer
  • Jace Lasek – engineer, mixer (track 4)
  • Ryan Morey – mastering
  • Max Henry – synth (tracks 2, 4, 7)
  • Mathieu Charbonneau – synth (tracks 1, 3, 5)
  • Erik Hove – saxophone, flute (tracks 1, 5)
  • Studio Safar – design
  • Myriam Boulos – cover photo

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sentz, Tim (September 9, 2021). "Album Review: Suuns - The Witness". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Roberts, Phillipe (September 4, 2021). "Suuns: The Witness Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Hedderman, Zara (August 30, 2021). "Suuns - The Witness - Album Review". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Dubois, Aymeric (August 31, 2021). "On The Witness Suuns look at the world as helpless spectators". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "The Witness | Suuns". Bandcamp. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "The Witness by Suuns Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Thomas, Fred. "The Witness - Suuns". AllMusic. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  8. ↑ Pattison, Louis (November 2021). "Uncut - November 2021 | Suuns | The Witness". Uncut. p. 34. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  9. ↑ Clarke, Tim (September 1, 2021). "Suuns - The Witness (Joyful Noise)". Dusted. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  10. ↑ "NBHAP's 50 Best Albums of 2021". Nothing but Hope and Passion. December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
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