Suiix contemplates the unknown on dream pop offering “The Great Nothing”

Suiix‘s self-released new track, “The Great Nothing,” is out now.

Suiix (pronounced shooey) is the brainchild of Sydney based Sarah Julienne. It started as a solo project – the canvas for Julienne’s dreamy vocals, psychedelic tastes, and looping vintage synths – but has since grown into a more expansive, four-piece live band. Their dreamy, psych-pop sound is a kind of retro futurism – 70s nostalgia through the eyes of some near future bohemian. Their sound blends the lines between different electronic genres. 2015’s “Alright” is punchy alt-pop, 2016’s “Pacific Dreamer” is swirling, glitchy trip-hop, and their debut single, 2014’s “Hi,” is delicious, desert-flavored psychedelia. These different sounds are joined by a fantastic appreciation for strange, intricate textures – chunky, crunching drum machines, slippery, spinning synths, and the smooth, wide air of Julienne’s vocals.

Suiix‘s new single, “The Great Nothing,” is epic, glittering dream pop. It opens with beautiful, lapping layers of organ, twinkly synths, and meditative vocals. Julienne’s lyrics contemplate the vast mysteries of our existence – probing at our discomforts with the unknown. It’s heady stuff, well suited to the song’s swirling, hypnotic chords.

Beneath the soft blanket of keys and vocals, a groove slowly starts to form, driven in large part by layers of live percussion. There is a lovely organic crispness in these drums which help ground all the mind-bending aspects of the track. These drums, muffled at first by all the sweet harmonics around them, slowly emerge into a really driving force, an engine which powers the song, across its more than 6 minute run time, as it climbs patiently to a truly climactic finish. The payoff for this build is thrilling catharsis – weighty, twisted guitar, and throttling, smashed drum fills. Somehow, we’ve descended through soft, sweet water, into a dark and churning deep. It’s a remarkably dramatic trajectory – a full narrative told in sound.

Lukas