Fiction (EP)

Fiction
A large pink square with frayed edges over a black background, with the band name printed in the top-left corner, and the album name in the bottom right, both in all caps and spaced strangely. The band named is stylized as "S UU N S" and the album name as "FI CT IO N".
EP by
ReleasedOctober 30, 2020 (2020-10-30)
Genre
Length19:59
Label
Suuns chronology
Felt
(2020)
Fiction
(2020)
The Witness
(2021)
Singles from Fiction
  1. "Pray"
    Released: September 16, 2020
  2. "Breathe"
    Released: October 7, 2020
  3. "Fiction"
    Released: October 22, 2020

Fiction is an extended play by the Canadian rock band Suuns, released October 30, 2020 via Secret City Records and Joyful Noise Recordings.[1]

Background

Fiction was announced September 2020 with a press release promising "new sounds and sonic directions" on an EP that "is as much a project of curation as it is one of creation: sifting, re-imagining, and re-framing, sometimes completely disassembling and then building from the ground up." The announcement came with the release of lead single "Pray", a leftover song cut from the band's 2016 album Hold/Still.[1] Two more singles followed in the next month: "Breathe", featuring prior collaborators Jerusalem in My Heart,[2] and title track "Fiction",[3] came out October 7 and October 22 respectively.

Style

The album has been described as avant rock[4] and psychedelic music.[5]

Critical reception

Fiction ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork6.9/10[4]
New Noise[6]
Exclaim!7/10[7]

For Exclaim!, Daniel Sylvester wrote of the EP, "Although Fiction feels and sounds like more of an experiment than it does an important part of their discography, there's no way to deny that these six tracks demonstrate Suuns' willingness to mess with the way they approach their craft, giving the listener a beacon of hope for future works."[7] Pitchfork's Will Ainsley said that despite it being brief, the EP "never feels insubstantial because the sound of the whole thing is so spectacular", and called the project "something more instinctive and assured" than the band's past output, but also that "it's tempting to want more, more clearly-defined songs, more beats, more aggression, more of that sublime bweebeebewboo guitar line; there are only two straight-up-and-down songs here while the rest feel like sketches."[4] New Noise writer Ryan Beitler said the band "are breaking barriers and reaching beyond the underground in the process."[6] Laura Stewart of 25YL called the project "joyfully chilling", and called the opening track "black ambience with shades of Bowie's Black Star [sic]".[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Suuns

Fiction track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Look"3:31
2."Breathe" (featuring Jerusalem in My Heart)2:30
3."Pray"4:33
4."Fiction"3:18
5."Death" (featuring Amber Webber)2:57
6."Trouble Every Day"3:10
Total length:19:59

References

  1. ^ a b Thiessen, Brock (September 16, 2020). "Suuns Return with Fiction EP". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (October 7, 2020). "Suuns share new Jerusalem In My Heart collaboration "BREATHE"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (October 22, 2020). "Suuns unleash new EP title-track Fiction". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Ainsley, Will (November 12, 2020). "Suuns: Fiction EP Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Stewart, Laura (November 4, 2020). "Suuns Fiction EP is Joyfully Chilling". 25YL. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Beitler, Ryan (October 30, 2020). "Album Review: Suuns- Fiction EP on Joyful Noise Recordings". New Noise. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Sylvester, Daniel (October 29, 2020). "Suuns Experiment with Sound on Fiction EP". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 8, 2021.