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PRESS: Suzanne Walker releases new LP

Original article: https://toomuchlovemagazine.com/suzanne-walker-releases-new-lp/

If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like to throw a handful of blues-influenced, roaring electric guitars, delicate acoustics, mischievously flexible grooves, passion-laden vocals and evocative folk harmonies together into a melting pot of melodic charms, you’re in for quite the special listening experience when giving the new album from Suzanne’s Band, Back to You, a spin. Back to You is the official sequel to Breathe, an extended play that Suzanne’s Band released to much acclaim back in 2018, and if you liked what you heard on that first offering, you’re going to be very impressed with what the Mia Suzanne Walker-led group has put together for us in this, their latest release. Right out of the gate in “Fault in My Stars,” Walker straddles a buoyant beat with the seamless command of a seasoned studio pro, and while she’s not as much of a veteran as her affectionate performances might have us believe, she’s nevertheless rolling like a deeply talented professional here, in songs like “I Almost Said I Do,” “Don’t Give Up Yet,” “Write a Book” and “Look Up,” all of which would make for marvelous singles in their own right.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/suzannesband/

As far as production quality is concerned, Back to You is the most polished effort we’ve seen from Suzanne’s Band thus far, and you needn’t look much further than the acrylic detail on both “Wonder When” and the title track to understand exactly what I mean. There’s not a stone left unturned in the big picture of these two songs, and really any of the other eight that join them in the tracklist here, with the pendulous groove of the strings creating a miniature sonic hurricane in “Wonder When” that is just as sumptuous to consume as the slow-motion stomp of “Gonna Rise Up” is. From beginning to end in Back to You, we’re forced in one way or another to react to whatever aural intricacies the music might contain, and having sat down with this album on more than one occasion (without any external interruptions, as it was likely meant to be heard in the first place), I admit that there are a seemingly endless supply of said intricacies for us to sort through. Could it be a touch overwhelming for newcomers? Maybe, but when taking into account how melodic it is, I seriously doubt it.

YOU TUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2h8WyLZ_6rNfnrzm4d7FKg
Indie critics haven’t been able to stop talking about Suzanne’s Band and Mia Suzanne Walker herself in the last couple of years, and those who are curious as to why need to take some time out to spend with the stunning Back to You, which debuts this January everywhere quality alternative country, folk and pop music is sold and streamed. Suzanne’s Band aren’t holding anything back from us in this release, and though I’m sure that we’re going to hear plenty more gems from this group in the future, this gives us a great idea of how much excitement we genuinely have to look forward to from this Walker-fronted harmony machine. Let it be known that Back to You is one of 2020’s first epic listens, not only because of its uniquely stylish finish, but because of its phenomenally talented designer.

John McCall

PRESS: Suzanne’s Band releases new album

Original article: https://musicexistence.com/blog/2020/01/18/suzannes-band-releases-new-album/

In a passionate lead vocal that has become her calling card, Mia Suzanne Walker, driving force behind Suzanne’s Band, lays into the chorus of “Look Up” with as much strength as she can muster from behind the microphone, but as anyone who explores her new album Back to You will discover, she brings this kind of a moxie to every song she records. In tracks like this one and the rollicking “Write a Book,” Suzanne chases after enormous harmonies whilst creating a crushingly emotional, atmospheric instrumentation in the foreground that is perfect when coupled with her soft poeticisms.

“Gonna Rise Up” rounds out the tracklist of Back to You with a melancholic melody that lingers in the air long after the record has stopped playing, but for as anthemic a ballad as it is, it doesn’t minimize darker, more dexterous numbers like the deceptively simple “On a Good Day” at all. There’s a good balance of themes on this LP, and even when she’s playing to one strength over another (such as her sensational lead vocal, or a specific part in a harmony), Suzanne never sounds removed from the trajectory of her backing band at all.

“Passing My By” and “Wonder When” both take a lot of the fragmented ends from Suzanne’s Band’s first record, the Breathe EP, and pieces them together in a much more mature and refined melodicism than she’s exhibited in the past, and personally I think these two tracks show her progressing evolution better than most any others on Back to You do. She’s growing a lot as an artist, and in the last two years, I think she’s done more to improve her overall approach to composing and performing than a lot of her closest rivals on the left side of the dial (and the mainstream, for that matter) have.

PURCHASE LINK: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/suzannesband1

The country components of the Suzanne’s Band sound have never been as formidable as they are in “Don’t Give Up Yet,” “I Almost Said I Do” and the title track in Back to You, and I for one couldn’t be happier to hear them in this state. Suzanne is and always will be a country singer above all else, and though her music drifts into folk and rock territory more often than a lot of Nashville-influenced players’ would, I think this is what gives her such a distinct, and easily identifiable, sound and artistry.

From “Fault in My Stars” to the brooding “Gonna Rise Up,” Suzanne’s Band doesn’t let us down with their latest collection of golden ballads, mild bruisers and pop-friendly swing jams, and while I enjoyed Breathe, I don’t think there’s going to be any debate as to whether or not this is the more superior of the two recordings. Suzanne is playing with her heart on her sleeve in this album, and as long as she continues to produce music with as much of her soul as she clearly did here, she’s going to be an important entity in the American underground for the foreseeable future.

Justin Marshall

PRESS: IndiPulse Music

Original article: https://indiepulsemusic.com/2019/11/16/one-more-night-of-christmas-by-suzannes-band/

In their latest single, the holiday ballad “One More Night of Christmas,” Suzanne’s band get back to basics stylistically while imprinting their own unique mark on an iconic genre within western pop music. “One More Night of Christmas” challenges the one and only Mia Suzanne Walker to push her vocal abilities to the very limit without overstretching her skillset, and while her backing band provides an adept backdrop perfect for the tone of the music, it’s her singing that tends to light a fire more than anything else here does. Whether you’ve heard this group’s work before or not, this is a single that I highly recommend taking a look at this season.

URL: https://suzannesband.com/albums/one-more-night-of-christmas/

As previously mentioned, the lead vocal is the undeniable centerpiece of “One More Night of Christmas,” and I would even argue that it’s one of the warmer performances we’ve heard from Suzanne since her debut release, Breathe. Her naturally intimate drawl adds an elegance to the grander scheme of things that wouldn’t be present otherwise, and although there are a couple of moments around the chorus where she appears to cede some of the ground to the percussive parts, she never steps away from the spotlight long enough for us to break the spell created by her serenade.

This track has got one of the better basslines I’ve reviewed in the last month, and without its delicate cushioning of the lyrics, I’m not completely convinced that “One More Night of Christmas” would be quite as captivating as it is in this particular capacity. There’s not a stitch of unutilized space in this mix, and while the edges are rounded out nicely by the bass parts, I don’t get the sense that there ever was a lot of cleaning up to do behind the soundboard ahead of this single’s official release.

The percussion here is really consistent but never intrusive on the other components in the song at all, which is difficult to do when considering just how tight a production style Suzanne’s Band decided to go with in this track. There’s a little swing in the steps, and despite coming close a couple of times, the beat never devolves into overindulgence or obscurity behind the mammoth command of the lead vocal. Suzanne wants us to experience the full scope of her group’s sound here, and by keeping things on an even plain aesthetically, she’s able to show us everything they’ve got and then some.

ANGHAMI: https://play.anghami.com/album/1008969732?songid=60525722

If you’ve been following their work lately, you’re absolutely going to love what Suzanne’s Band has done with the wonderful “One More Night of Christmas,” which I would deem one of the smarter Christmas tunes I’ve had the pleasure of encountering in the buildup to the holiday season. Suzanne continues to expand upon her trademark sound in this latest release, and though I’m certain that this won’t be the last time we find her music making headlines in some corner of the American pop underground or another, I’ve got a feeling that this is going to serve as one of her more popular releases among fans throughout the wintertime from here on out.

Mindy McCall

PRESS: mobangeles.com

Original article: https://mobangeles.com/one-more-night-of-christmas-by-suzannes-band/

Waves of keyboard melodies are skewed with the light touch of an electric guitar, a soft crash of drums and the rollicking beat they create as we enter “One More Night of Christmas” from Suzanne’s Band, but these first few bars are only a small sampling of the chill-spiking harmonies that await anyone who presses play on this latest release from the noted indie folk/rock act. Suzanne’s Band don’t waste any time before launching into the swing of the rhythm as though they were already mid-song in “One More Night of Christmas,” and while this isn’t the first galloping tempo they’ve played at before, there’s something particularly unique about the style of the drums in this single. Like a fast-beating heart, they guide a stellar vocal from Suzanne into the heavens from which it was first spawned, and in their wake leave a trail of haunting reverberations that on their own make this one of the more evocative Christmas songs of 2019. Suzanne and her eponymous band hit it out of the park here, and I’m hardly the only critic saying so this month.

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Production-wise, “One More Night of Christmas” is a really sterling offering from a band that has never been known to skimp on quality in the past. The varnish over the instrumental parts in the song is noticeably shiny but hardly a product of the commercial pop model, and I think that the vocals – while being lightly polished in certain parts of the chorus – are relatively raw by comparison. This doesn’t force any sort of duality or contrast in the music (truthfully, it does anything but), but it instead maximizes the depth of emotion in the textural elements of the song more than I would have expected it to. Suzanne is using every tool at her disposal here, from the mix to the melodies to the emotion within the players themselves, in her mission to make us embrace whatever’s on her mind via this medium, and though this isn’t her most involved listen, it’s probably one of the most emotive in tone because of the subject matter and recognizable nature of the composition’s genre itself.

CD BABY: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/suzannesband2

“One More Night of Christmas” is another excellent piece from Suzanne’s Band and a great addition to any winter holiday soundtrack, and whether you’re a big fan of seasonal music or not, I think that it has more than enough detail and decadence to please most pop fans this November and December. Suzanne is absolutely on fire with the microphone in this song, and even if it is a track tailor-made for those who have a penchant for pulsating holiday grooves, it’s just as tangible a listen if you love pop melodies and unadulterated swing as much as I do.

With “One More Night of Christmas,” Suzanne’s Band adds one more hit to their list of sensational songs to see release in the last two years, starting with the seminal 2017 debut Breathe and its six stately tracks. I’m eager for more, and after you’ve heard this, I think you will be as well.

Michael Rand

PRESS: IndieShark

Original article: https://indieshark.com/music-reviews/suzannes-band-one-more-night-of-christmas/

On the back of a graceful beat, Suzanne’s Band lay into the instrumental intro to “One More Night of Christmas,” and although this part of the song is remarkably short, it makes an impact that lingers over the remaining three and a half minutes of the track just the same. There’s a springiness to the rhythm here, an up-tempo sway if you will, but there isn’t any urgency to the dispensing of the melody. Nothing is rushed in this latest single from Suzanne’s Band; contrarily, there’s a close attention to even the smallest of details that many folk crossover groups would just as soon ignore. The bottom line? “One More Night of Christmas” starts out overwhelmingly strong and only gets more gripping as we take in its heroic harmonies.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pg/suzannesbandmusic/posts/

Mia Suzanne Walker, the mastermind behind Suzanne’s Band, is really good at spicing up a chorus, but she simply outdoes herself in this single. On the first occasion that she has to shine, she bursts through the verses without any hesitation and emerges on the other side of the hook with a rare swagger only hinted at in her last album, Breathe. By the time that we’re nearing the conclusion of the track, she’s taken us one hundred and eighty degrees in the other direction, whispering the chorus with an adorably relatable reticence ahead of the song’s grand finale. She’s taking a familiar formula and putting her own embellishment on it, which is common among superstars but not quite as frequent among her indie peer group.

The instrumentation in this single is very well-arranged but the vocal is always the focus from start to finish. You just can’t put someone like Walker on the stage and expect different results – when she’s belting out a verse, it’s as though the entire band behind her is moving in slow motion, adjusting their play to better suit the tonality of her voice. She’s quite the singer and has shown a lot of growth just in the two years that have passed since we last heard from her, and if she’s able to continue the evolutionary process through at least the first half of 2020, she and her band are going to be looking at a lot more limelight in this next decade.

With a peaceful fade into the sunrise, “One More Night of Christmas” comes to an end and leaves a giant void where its rhythmic grooves once occupied only moments earlier. I’ve always said that it’s even harder to record a successful holiday track than it is to make a popular rookie release, but Suzanne’s Band makes it look incredibly easy in this latest studio cut. From their approach to the lyrics to the immaculate treatment of the melodies, there’s no debate as to whether or not this is an extraordinary piece and a great way to ring in the holiday season, but I wouldn’t call it the peak for the artists who play it. Mia Suzanne Walker and her self-titled band are far from finished, and their passion in this single displays just how much they have left in the tank.

Mark Druery

PRESS: Celebrity Zones

Original article: https://celebrityzones.com/2019/11/16/suzannes-band-one-more-night-of-christmas/

Holiday songs are often a tough sell even for the most talented and well-known of artists in the game today, but in the case of Suzanne’s Band’s take on “One More Night of Christmas,” it doesn’t take much more than a cursory examination of its melodic patchwork to fall in love with the group’s trademark tonality. “One More Night of Christmas” is an accessible pop song with a wintry groove, fragile harmonies and a singer in Suzanne herself who has demonstrated a lot of wit and wisdom from behind the microphone recently but takes her sound to a higher level in this latest release. Simply put, fans both old and new alike would be wise to take note of this single as a sign of the magic still to come from the Suzanne’s Band brand.

URL: https://suzannesband.com/

“One More Night of Christmas,” like most songs by this group, features a really folky vocal style, but the structure itself is contemporary pop in almost every way. The beats are supple and smoothly adjoined with the melodic elements in the foreground, but the two never get clustered in the mix – the track is too well-produced for that to happen. The crisp quality of the instruments aside, Suzanne’s crooning is what keeps us glued to our speakers more than anything else does in this single, and though it’s perhaps not her most balanced composition to date, it’s undisputedly one of the most exquisite vocal showcases that she’s released thus far in her career with this band.

Instrumentally speaking, “One More Night of Christmas” is uncomplicated and simplistic, but to be perfectly frank, it doesn’t need to be super elaborate to make a big impression. With all of the gusto that the players are putting into the music, we’re able to take as much from the texture of their harmonies as we are the content of Suzanne’s words, which is a combination that is far from easy to find when browsing the top tier of the Billboard charts nowadays. Suzanne’s Band bring a lot of confidence into the studio with them in this track, and for all that it lacks in over the top theatrics and plasticized polish, it more than compensates for in originality, spirited melodic moxie and a tasteful adherence to the parameters of old school pop music.

YANDEX: https://music.yandex.ru/album/9113182

I only just recently started listening to Suzanne’s Band, but if this is a taste of what the group can do when they’re firing on all cylinders and chasing after a sound as sweet as the season is, I’ll definitely be checking out their work again in the future. There are a lot of ways to take on a Christmas song, but with “One More Night of Christmas,” Mia Suzanne Walker and company don’t overthink anything – they let the melodies lead the way, and in doing so turn in one of the more on-point holiday singles of the year. There’s still plenty of time before Christmas day, but as of now I think that it would be safe to say this is the premier song to beat among seasonal indie releases.

Joshua Corbin

PRESS: Suzanne’s’ Band – Breathe EP | The Indie Source

A little slow ominous picking of an acoustic guitar here, a little lingering bassline over there. A bit of quaint percussion and some divine vocals that evoke biblical imagery of a simpler kind of man, a people who are only held to the simple standard of love and respect. Fields of tall grass on a hot summer day and sandy beaches that make merry for young lovers lost in each other’s gaze. The loss of that love, the stark reality that is left behind when we pick up the pieces in our consequential fate. These are all segments in the many splendored book of life, but they are also the elements that Suzanne’s Band wants to aggressively explore in the simplest of terms on their gorgeous debut recording, Breathe, a six song extended play from the mind of Texas’ own singer/songwriter Mia Suzanne Walker. Read More

PRESS: 10 Questions | Indie Music Interviews

Suzanne’s Band is an Indie-pop group started by Mia Suzanne Walker in 2017. Bringing more than 40 years of combined music experience from piano lessons, guitar, singing in church, leading choirs and musicals (throughout junior high and high school), and performances with various adult music groups, provided Walker with the gusto to start this project. She released her first EP, ‘Breath’, in November of 2017. Taking a mix of influences from the 60’s to the 90’s, you won’t want to miss out on her classic sound. Read More

PRESS: Mia Suzanne Walker in Suzanne Band’s Breathe EP | Vents Magazine

Out of the heart of true Americana comes the first official release from veteran songwriter Mia Suzanne Walker in Suzanne Band’s Breathe EP, a sweet slice of six acoustic gems that fuse influences from folk and country music to yield the breathtaking setlist we discover on this album. Fans of all music genres will find themselves hypnotized by Suzanne’s southern drawl and plaintive insight. Read More

PRESS: Suzanne’s Band – ‘Breathe’ | Skope Magazine

Using carefully arranged acoustic guitars and brooding harmonies, the Texas branded Suzanne’s Band creates a charming set of songs on the new extended play, Breathe, which is available now on Amazon.com. Suzanne’s Band is the official vehicle for Houstonian singer/songwriter Mia Suzanne Walker, and Walker is nothing short of a blinding force of positive energy in her debut offering. Using a folky template, she touches on themes ranging from vulnerability in the title track, to inspirational and cathartic on the rich “Down in Mexico,” a song that will definitely leave listeners itching to grab a set of car keys and cruise south of the border for a while. While there isn’t a lot of whimsy here, Walker never leaves us feeling depressed on Breathe, but instead moved by the depth of her emotional reach and relatability. Read More

PRESS: Suzanne’s Band | No Depression

Since the 1960’s, America has had a love affair with music that speaks to our roots and reminds us of what it’s like to be a part of something that is so much bigger than we are. Something that speaks to the very essence of our souls and drives us to so and accomplish anything that we set forth to do. I don’t know if Mia Suzanne Walker was setting out to create something as spellbinding as her debut extended play Breathe, but she not only exceeds expectations listeners have in a rookie offering, but creates an intrinsic new category of indie folk music all its own. Much like the complicated lovers that dwell in Walker’s lyrics, I found myself falling into a complex love with Suzanne’s Band’s style introduced to me on this record. Read More

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