Suris’ new anthology ‘Rare Brew’ bursts open like a cabinet of long-shelved potions, each track fizzing with imagination, danger, and sheer creative nerve. This new release is a lightning bolt across decades, proving Lindsey and David Mackie have been crafting their own strange, beautiful universe long before most of us knew we needed it.
From the first notes of ‘Astroturf’, ‘Rare Brew’ radiates the duo’s unmistakable alchemy of Lindsey’s rich, expressive vocals gliding over Dave’s shapeshifting arrangements with exhilarating precision. Their partnership is electric. You can hear their shared history, their instincts dovetailing like two halves of a single idea, finishing each other’s melodic sentences in ways that feel almost telepathic.
The highlight ‘Big Ship’ rolls in like a spectral tide, still carrying the analogue ghosts of its early-’90s cassette origins yet blooming into widescreen, cinematic power under modern remastering. While ‘Great Wide Open’ strips everything back to breath and pulse, delivering a gorgeous, space-lit lullaby that floats somewhere between David Bowie’s celestial melancholy and Suris’ own dreamlike storytelling.
Then there’s ‘Warrior Queen’, the showstopper: a fearless, rule-smashing epic that begins with intimate piano before exploding into a full-throttle battle cry of guitars, synths, and soaring vocals. It’s wild, theatrical, and utterly intoxicating.
What makes ‘Rare Brew’ so thrilling is the sense of discovery baked into every track. Some pieces originated on humble home setups; others grew from years spent experimenting across eras and equipment. Yet nothing here feels dated or dusty; Suris were already ahead of their time, and these songs now shine with the clarity they always deserved.
This anthology distills everything that makes the band extraordinary: their taste for shadowy folklore, their magnetic blend of art-rock and dream-pop shimmer, as well as their talent for weaving beauty and unease into something you feel in your bones.
‘Rare Brew’Â is a reminder, delivered with dazzling, renewed force, that Suris have always been quietly, fiercely brilliant.
