Suss

Ambient country group SUSS released a series of EPs throughout 2021 and 2022, then presented them together as a self-titled double album. Night Suite, the first EP, was completed shortly before founding member Gary Leib passed away, leaving the group to continue as a trio. All of the EPs songs are named after Southwest American locations, and they maintain the nocturnal drift of 2020s Promise, with steel guitars and synths providing a slowly levitating atmosphere while electric guitar melodies occasionally take the lead. The next two EPs, Heat Haze and Winter Was Hard, can be interpreted as having seasonal themes, with the former sounding dry and arid and the latter containing steel guitars which approximate freezing winds, creating some of the bands eeriest, most dramatic material. Across the Horizon, the fourth EP, is exclusive to the double album. "Shimmer (Reflection)" has tense pacing and sweeping synths, and is one of the few tracks that feels like its anxious to get somewhere. The entirety of SUSS plays like a travelogue, documenting an endless trek through the desert and mountains. ~ Paul Simpson