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BONEHOUSE REVIEWS

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Suris – ‘Bonehouse’  By Jamie Funk

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Husband and wife team Suris recently released Bonehouse. The duo has been compared to Kate Bush, Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, Imogen Heap, Fleet Foxes and Massive Attack. In my opinion Fleetwood is the only band out of those that has some similarities. To my ears there were ’70s aesthetics all over this thing. The vocalist is also quite emotive when she sings which reminded me of Stevie Nicks.

The album begins with “Argus” which starts with a couple chants that creates this pensive and cosmic mood. It doesn't take too long for the band to emerge. I thought this was one of the catchier songs on the album.

They have some success with airy and dynamic “To Be Known” and the ballad “Wanted.” I thought the drumming was quite good and there were some notable vocal harmonies as well. “Queen of the Night” is much more stripped back and felt like a good move for the fourth song.

“Bonehouse” starts with one of the coolest sounding grooves on the album. There’s cool structure as well to the song. “Found” is a dramatic ballad that is sweet and they amp up the energy with “Unsettled Night.”

I also enjoyed “Eclipse” which has one of the more memorable hooks. “Stir” felt like an emotional ballad you might hear when the credits roll on a movie. Last up is “Fret” which is a pretty epic song that goes for great heights.

​Overall, there’s some very impressive technical aspects and some songs which were really well written. I think there’s a lot to appreciate on this album.

Suris – ‘Bonehouse’  By Thomas Bedward

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One of the most intriguing husband and wife duos to rise from the music scene in some time, Suris have spent the last few years carving out their own unique path with a string of eclectic releases. Inspired by the like of Talking Heads, King Crimson, and Japan, the partnership of Lindsey and David Mackie has gone from strength to strength ever since the release of their debut album in 2012, and now, almost a decade later, they’re back in the spotlight with their long-awaited third album, ‘Bonehouse’.

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Following on from Lindsey and David’s time in lockdown, ‘Bonehouse’ emerges as a wonderfully experimental collection of songs and moments. Filled with their already alchemic sense of expression, strident emotion, and instrumentals that are perfectly amplified by Lindsey’s art-pop vocals, it’s an album that is indulgent, cathartic, and seemingly limitless, creating an expanding aural escape that will draw you in and never let you go.

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Stylistically, you wouldn’t be too far afield labelling ‘Bonehouse’ as ethereal psych-rock, but you also wouldn’t be doing it complete justice, with each of the ten tracks unfolding to present different levels of sound and style. Caught in a tempest of celestial tones, otherworldly, avant-garde influences, and dark, burning melodies, ‘Bonehouse’ is a kaleidoscopic release that refuses to settle. Restlessly shifting between orchestral sounds, tribal rhythms, alt-folk passages, and evolving atmospheric rock passages, ‘Bonehouse’ walks a definitive line between the unexpected and the deeply familiar, unravelling into a brilliant, carefully cultivated release that makes the most out of every single moment.

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Available now via Spotify, ‘Bonehouse’ is a rare and wonderfully engaging release that showcases the myriad of talents that Lindsey and David have in their arsenal.

UK duo Suris have released their ethereal psych-rock album, ‘Bonehouse’

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UK-based artist Suris has released their lockdown-born alt psych-rock album, Bonehouse.

 

Each of the ten singles is a unique amalgamation of psych, progressive rock, jazz fusion and folk that operates on a celestial level under the Suris’ otherworldly avant-garde direction.

 

Track 1, ‘Argus’, is a chorally ethereal introduction to the album that evades familiar horizons and ventures to unsettling new ground by experimenting with atmospheric, archaic and hypnotic textures. ‘To Be Known’ showcases tribal rhythm with visceral alt-folk vocals that carry the air of unapologetically bold artists such as Kate Bush, while tracks such as ‘Wanted’ and ‘Eclipse’ unravel as the pinnacle of atmospheric rock. Ballad fans will find plenty of emotion in Stir and Found, and the LP ends with the hypnotic score, Fret, which concludes with an arresting classical string solo, courtesy of Steve Bingham.

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Suris release the beautifully atmospheric ‘Bonehouse’

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By Daniel Phillips

Suris have released their latest album ‘Bonehouse’, a collection of songs born over the last 15 months of lockdown. Consisting of husband and wife duo Lindsey Mackie (vocals, piano & keyboards) and David Mackie (guitar, bass & drums), the 10 track effort is ever changing, never hesitating on an idea for too long which leads to a genuinely exciting listening experience, where you are unsure where the next track will take you. 

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The musical arrangements complement Mackie’s voice perfectly, the piano’s especially feel almost a continuation of her powerful vocal performance, which teeters on musical drama in points, such is the emotion and ambience that her voice brings. The atmospheric guitars also add to this intense feeling of hypnotism, which is more and more apparent as the album develops. 

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‘Bonehouse’ is successful in all of its goals. The mix and master adds perfectly to the atmosphere that is created by the combination of musicianship on top of Mackie’s vocals. This collection of powerful, sonically interesting, emotionally demanding songs showcases Suris going from strength to strength.

Suris invite you into the ‘Bonehouse’ with their avant-garde psych-folk sound

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‘Bonehouse’ is the third album released by the UK-based duo Suris; the constraint-less 10-track release consistently keeps you compelled as it twists and turns through elements of jazz, folk, progressive rock and psych.

With vocals that creep into your consciousness with the same artful finesse as Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Stevie Nicks atop a bed of genre-fluid instrumentals, Bonehouse is an avant-garde exploration that will speak to and win over the aurally jaded.

The album starts with the celestial single, ‘Argus’, that takes the path least trodden as it navigates through sonic and arcane textures. With touches of 70s pop worked into the mix with, ‘Wanted’, and poised impassioned ballads such as, 'Queen of the Night', there is plenty of commercial potential in Bonehouse, despite the experimentalism.

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​Suris has never been one to evade real emotion in their music; with Bonehouse, they delved even deeper into the human psyche to explore the concepts of legacy, identity, refuge and escape after finding plenty of time for introspection during the 2020 lockdown.

Bonehouse was mixed, mastered and produced in the duos home studio before it hit the airwaves in April 2020.

UK duo Suris have released their ethereal psych-rock album, ‘Bonehouse’

 

By Matt Herman

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UK-based artist Suris has released their lockdown-born alt psych-rock album, Bonehouse. Each of the ten singles is a unique amalgamation of psych, progressive rock, jazz fusion and folk that operates on a celestial level under the Suris’ otherworldly avant-garde direction. Track 1, ‘Argus’, is a chorally ethereal introduction to the album that evades familiar horizons and ventures to unsettling new ground by experimenting with atmospheric, archaic and hypnotic textures. ‘To Be Known’ showcases tribal rhythm with visceral alt-folk vocals that carry the air of unapologetically bold artists such as Kate Bush, while tracks such as ‘Wanted’ and ‘Eclipse’ unravel as the pinnacle of atmospheric rock. Ballad fans will find plenty of emotion in Stir and Found, and the LP ends with the hypnotic score, Fret, which concludes with an arresting classical string solo, courtesy of Steve Bingham. 

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​Amelia Vandergast at A&R Factory said: Bonehouse is one of those stunningly rare releases with the ability to take off the weight that you never knew you were carrying. With the strident emotion in the instrumentals amplified by Lindsey Mackie’s art-pop vocals, Suris has brought forth an indulgent cathartic aural escape with Bonehouse.

By Rebecca Cullen

Stereo Stickman

Having revelled in the ambient contemplation of three pre-release tracks, it’s a pleasure to now escape into the full-length album that is Bonehouse, from a uniquely creative SURIS.

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The unmistakable groove and delicacy of a Fleetwood Mac-esque Argus starts up the collection with a hypnotic fusion of organic layers, rising up from softness into high energy and brightness.

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To Be Known follows and immediately strikes as a pop-ready, colourful and somewhat nostalgic release – mainstream-kissed, perhaps, in the two-step rhythm and warmth. The lyrics intrigue, inspire; qualities that run throughout the music of SURIS.

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A stylish Wanted and subsequent Queen Of The Night make for an intriguing and enjoyable midsection for the ten-track collection – the latter being a personal favourite for its breathy simplicity and the incoming passion of its later immersive realm.

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The album’s title-track sheds a fair bit of light on the collection, in a poetic yet deeply human way that’s easy to connect with. These songs were written during a locked-down 2020, so there’s a sense of vast uncertainty and thought to them all – a state of being that was new, to just about all of us. The song rises up with power, the hook proving short and addictive, the details in between proving alluring and increasingly of interest. A definite highlight, anthem-like and easily recognisable.

 

A piano-led and ambient Found creates a beautifully lives-style moment during the album’s latter half. Lyrics that beg you to decipher their personal honesty, a drum section that increases the weight, additional vocals that further it all the more so, and a level of what seems like longing for connection.

 

Then we get the drama and cinematic detail of Unsettled Night, a mighty instance of relevance in terms of the isolation of lockdown. The rain storm, the darkness, the piano and voice meandering and colliding throughout the soundscape; the fear and struggle at the heart of the lyrics. And of course, the sudden uplift of the hook – ‘This was the promise I made you’ – satisfies and resolves beautifully. Another favourite.

 

Infectious bass work and psychedelic bends meet with poetic reflections for a cool and compelling Eclipse – again SURIS master the art of structure, with a chorus that elevates the entire mood and completes the circle of story.

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A bold and rhythmically entrancing, melodically descending Stir offers short lines that crash over like waves, right before the dramatic yet colourful and multi-layered Fret brings things to an invigorating finish.

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Forever unpredictable in concept, with a musical familiarity but an equally unexpected arrangement in most cases – hooks that reach out with light in the darkness, instrumentals that connect honestly to the lyrics. SURIS have a certain oneness as a band, and this collection of originals celebrates all of this. Timeless and refreshing all at once.

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About Rebecca Cullen...

Rebecca Cullen is a musician and songwriter - and founding editor of Stereo Stickman - an online music magazine providing the latest in underground music news, as well as a platform through which unsigned artists can reach a wider audience.

 

40,000 subscribers can't be wrong!

We're excited about this album review posted 29th April 2021 on A&R Factory; comparisons to David Bowie, Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac!

STRAP YOURSELVES IN FOR THE SONICALLY CELESTIAL RIDE SURIS WILL TAKE YOU ON WITH THEIR PSYCH-ROCK ALBUM, ‘BONEHOUSE’.

A&R Factory

UK-based husband and wife duo Suris released their third album, Bonehouse, on April 29th. After a six-year gap in releases, anyone previously acquainted with their arcane sound will want to adjust their expectations accordingly for the evolution in their expression. During lockdown, Suris have taken their sound to an artfully transcendent level; strap yourselves in for the smooth celestial ride.

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The album starts with ‘Argus’, a spacey ambient feat of psych-folk that carries reminiscence to Bowie through the argonaut-inspired instrumentals and Kate Bush through Lindsey’s vocals which switch from evocative vibrato to chorally ethereal and back again. It perfectly sets the tone for the record that never allows you to get comfortable.

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Instead, with their soulfully pretence-less writing and production style, Suris meld elements of jazz, folk, progressive rock, psych-pop and avant-garde pop in compelling arrangements that breathe with the new age freedom of a Fleetwood Mac record, yet, there is always something striking, and indulgently unsettling waiting for you in the next progression.

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With the more atmospheric singles such as, ‘Wanted’, and ‘Eclipse’, the self-recorded and produced record feels so spiritual that it almost becomes metaphysical. Bonehouse is an incredible testament from Suris. If you appreciate true aural pioneers, you’ll want them on your radar.

Reviews by Jon Wright - Pre-release

Argus

Beginning with an ominous pedal tone beneath atmospheric and intricate vocal harmonies, Argus quickly finds a lilting groove with classic inflections - building into a smooth and soulful chorus in a showcase of Suris' intimate musicality!  Lovely lead vocal tones and rich instrumentations conjure subtle parallels of ambient Prog Rock as Suris expands the mystery and magnetism of Argus through cryptically picturesque lyricism and masterfully subversive harmonic developments.

 

Suris has captured an ethereal charm with Argus, weaving an immersive sound from rich instrumental tones and surprising harmonies.  The airy lead vocals lend a specific dreaminess to the sound, and a certain poetic gravity to the lyrics and melodies - while the opening harmonies perfectly set the stage for an otherworldly listening experience.  All in all, everything feels carefully and critically selected, musically refined, and fully intentional in a way that takes listeners for a fully engaging sonic trip!

 

The sound and feel of Suris' Argus have a pleasant leaning towards Classic Prog Rock, with the vocals and harmonies eliciting comparisons to bands like Yes.  Argus' delicate and ethereal qualities speak to modern Psychedelic Indie and Trip Hop sounds, with another comparison to the warmer, folkier tones of groups like Fleet Foxes.  Fans of immersive and emotionally poignant Ambient music will find more than enough to sink into with Suris' work, and the specific experience of Argus is sure to invite plenty of repeat listeners!

Queen of the Night

Instilling a sense of metomorphic transition through a steadily shifting soundscape, Suris' Queen of the Night gradually transforms from an uneasy isolation into a musical affirmation of love and light!  Bearing a classic sound and a vast musicality, Queen of the Night masterfully mirrors the cycles of anxiety and actualization that are familiar to so many. Things open up very nicely at 3:33 - captures the cycles of anxiety and reprieve.

 

This is a wonderfully musical work of art!  The sparse soundscape of Queen of the Night's introductory moments does well to communicate a struggle; a perseverance of character as the lyrics encourage steady progress through unnamed difficulties.  Then, as things have become more abstract and intense, they open up so sweetly at 3:33 that the listener can practically feel the weight lifted from their shoulders.  It's very understated and deeply impactful!  Beautiful vocal qualities and a very strong sense of arrival.  Great work!

 

Listeners with an appreciation for timeless instrumental soundscapes and soul-searching auditory experiences will find Suris to be a band worth following, and the full breadth of Queen of the Night's cathartic and transformative properties stand to resonate with nearly anyone who listens in!  Contemplative and ultimately comforting, Queen of the Night is an artfully ambitious piece of Ambient Pop that's bound to draw you in!

About Jon Wright...

Jon Wright is a trained multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and music educator with nearly twenty years of experience in the field. Working with musicians and their individual sounds is his passion and profession, and he strives to interact with and understand every aspect of the production process - from theory and songwriting to recording and mastering. He continues to teach students of all ages and is currently collaborating with artists in a wide variety of genres.

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