Suuns The Witness Protection album video

Photo by Will Lew

WATCH: A new video by Suuns, who will release a new album on Sept. 3

“Witness Protection” is the first single from The Witness, the fifth album by the Montreal band.

Montreal band Suuns are back with a new single and video, as well as news of a new album called The Witness and a tour to follow in the fall. Ben Shemie, Joe Yarmush and Liam O’Neill — along with Max Henry, whose left as a full-time member in 2018 and continues to work with the band in the studio — wrote and recorded The Witness over the course of 2020 and will be released in Canada by Secret City (and by Joyful Noise in other countries) on Sept. 3.

In a press release, Yarmush explained that one of the band’s goals with The Witness was to settle down and be less bombastic.

“It 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.”

—Joe Yarmush

Singer Ben Shemie added:

“There’s always this restraint in SUUNS: the question of ‘how long can we hold off? I 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.”

—Ben Shemie

Watch the video for “Witness Protection,” directed by Antoine Dasseville, here:

“Witness Protection,” the first single from the forthcoming Suuns album The Witness

Though they have yet to announce details of a Montreal album launch (likely to follow soon), Suuns tour dates are as follows:

Tour dates

22.09.21 – Quebec City, QC @ L’Impérial

23.09.21 – Alma, QC @ Café du Clocher

24.09.21 – Sherbrooke, QC @ La petite boîte noire

29.09.21 – Saint-Hyacinthe, QC @ Le Zaricot

01.10.21 – Ottawa, ON @ Club Saw

02.10.21 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace

23.10.2021 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje

24.10.2021 – London, UK @ Oslo

25.10.2021 – London, UK @ Oslo

26.10.2021 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand

27.10.2021 – Manchester, UK @ White Hotel,

28.10.2021 – Brussels, BE @ Orangerie

29.10.2021 – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik

31.10.2021 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord

01.11.2021 – Köln, DE @ Bumann & Sohn

02.11.2021 – Berlin, DE @ Lido

04.11.2021 – Copenhagen, DK @ Alice

06.11.2021 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang

07.11.2021 – Manufaktur, DE @ Schorndorf

08.11.2021 – Paris, FR @ Maroquinerie

For more about Suuns, please visit the band’s website.


For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.