SUSS Counting Sunsets
Consensus is still forming across 4 professional reviews. SUSS's Counting Sunsets positions the trio as consummate practitioners of ambient country, where twilight textures and desert minimalism shape every moment. Across the record critics found that patient arrangements - drifting synths, pedal steel, sparse piano and muted acoustic strums - create an ethereal, cinematic at
The best song, "Sunset VI", is prized for its calm, radiant propulsion into night.
The album's core strengths are its slow, soothing textures and evocative desert-twilight atmospheres.
Best for listeners looking for desert landscapes and twilight, starting with Sunset III and Sunset VIII.
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Full consensus notes
SUSS's Counting Sunsets positions the trio as consummate practitioners of ambient country, where twilight textures and desert minimalism shape every moment. Across the record critics found that patient arrangements - drifting synths, pedal steel, sparse piano and muted acoustic strums - create an ethereal, cinematic atmosphere that probes memory, mortality and loneliness in quietly powerful ways.
The critical consensus registers as generally favorable, earning a 73/100 consensus score across 4 professional reviews. Reviewers consistently point to the record's most affecting moments as its standout tracks: “Sunset I”, “Sunset III”, “Sunset VIII”, “Sunset VI” and “Sunset II”. PopMatters praises “Sunset I” and “Sunset VIII” for vividly conjuring desolate desert vignettes; AllMusic highlights “Sunset I” and “Sunset VI” for their sleepy synths and calm propulsion into night; Pitchfork singles out “Sunset III” and “Sunset II” as concise studies in texture and hushed expectancy. Critics agree that the record favors distilled moods over immediacy, rewarding small attentions to space and tone.
While the overall appraisal is appreciative, reviews note that Counting Sunsets' restraint makes it a modest, deliberately slow collection rather than a broad leap forward. For readers asking if Counting Sunsets is worth listening to, the consensus suggests a nuanced yes: an expertly realized, melancholic suite that cements SUSS's place in the modern ambient-country landscape and offers several quietly essential tracks to return to.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Sunset III
1 mention
"the gorgeous "Sunset III," which wouldn’t be the same without that plaintive little whine"— Pitchfork
Sunset VIII
2 mentions
"on tracks like "Sunset VIII," with its graceful piano notes against the keening pedal steel"— PopMatters
Sunset VI
1 mention
"Sunset VI" is one of the album's most calmly stirring moments"— AllMusic
Sunset I" contains sleepy synths, gently drifting steel guitar, acoustic strums
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Sunset I
Sunset II
Sunset III
Sunset IV
Sunset V
Sunset VI
Sunset VII
Sunset VIII
Sunset IX
Sunset X
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
SUSS continue to map out wide-open moods on Counting Sunsets, where the best tracks refine a calm, cinematic melancholy rather than crave immediacy. I linger on “Sunset I” for its sleepy synths and drifting steel guitar, and praise “Sunset VI” as one of the album's most calmly stirring moments that propels you into night. The succinct “Sunset VIII” says everything it needs with a delicate piano melody, making it one of the record's quieter triumphs. Overall, the slow, soothing, rustic-ethereal palette makes these tracks stand out by subtlety and space.
Key Points
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The best song, "Sunset VI", is prized for its calm, radiant propulsion into night.
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The album's core strengths are its slow, soothing textures and evocative desert-twilight atmospheres.
Themes
Critic's Take
SUSS take an artful, atmospheric look at the American West on Counting Sunsets, where the best tracks - “Sunset III” and “Sunset II” - distill pastoral unease into gorgeous miniature pieces. The record favors concise, distilled moods rather than sprawling jams, and “Sunset III” shows the band’s gift for texture while “Sunset II” builds hushed expectancy with arps. There is a grainy earthiness throughout, the acoustic instruments protruding from synth swirls, and small tensions - the wowing frequency in “Sunset VII” or the harmonica in “Sunset IV” - give the prettiness character. Counting Sunsets is modest, expertly realized, and quietly effective at delivering the best tracks in short, memorable bursts.
Key Points
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The best song, "Sunset III", is best for its plaintive loop and textural richness that crystallize the record’s beauty.
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The album’s core strengths are its concise, atmospheric miniatures and the balance of acoustic grain with restrained synth textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
SUSS’s Counting Sunsets makes a persuasive case for the band as masters of ambient country, and the review points to tracks like “Sunset I” and “Sunset VIII” as especially evocative. The writer’s measured, descriptive tone emphasizes atmosphere - noting the album provides a dreamy, hazy, minimalist soundtrack for a desolate desert. He highlights how keyboards, acoustic strumming and pedal steel coalesce into cinematic vignettes, which answers the question of the best tracks on Counting Sunsets by steering listeners toward those songs that most vividly conjure scenery. The voice remains appreciative and confident that SUSS have distilled their concept into a beautiful science.
Key Points
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The best songwork, particularly on "Sunset I" and "Sunset VIII", is where the band’s cinematic minimalism most vividly coalesces.
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The album’s core strengths are its atmospheric production, blending of country instrumentation with synths, and a consistent desert-cinematic mood.
Themes
