Sister Suzie: Honesty in Mid-Life
FIONA McGARRY
It’s been six years since Susan Sims released her last album: Ain’t No Lady .“Life has been a little bit bonkers for me since then, so it’s taken a long time for me to record something new,” she says.
The new album, Honestly? will be out early in the new year. It’s made up of ten original songs, which, according to Suzie, come out of her “being a middle-aged, sad, drunk and horny party animal mostly”. In 2023, she suffered badly from fibroids and was forced to have a hysterectomy, and these songs address some of her feelings and experiences in a brutally honest way.
Essentially, it’s a blues album with a whole lot of soul, a little rock ‘n roll, gospel, a dusting of jazz, a smattering of two-tone ska and a broken-hearted ballad. The album tells the tale of a strange and lonely time: experiencing midlife as a woman, trying to come to terms with everything.
Boisterous, bold and brassy, Suzie’s heartfelt lyrics resonate with women everywhere. She says: “I’ve sung Bitch Back a few times live and been astounded at the response, women slamming their hands on tables exclaiming ‘EVERY SINGLE LINE!’ and telling me their hysterectomy tales. The song sings of ME wanting MY bitch back! – and I know most of us feel this way. I lost my energy, my memory, my derrière. I cried all night long (for anything and everything).”
Coming up next month, Suzie is releasing a single, Time, on 1 November. “It’s a ballad,” she says, “one that speaks of those things that hurt your heart and don’t ever really go away.”
On the same day there will be an album preview at The Henry Ward Hall with the usual ‘Sister Suzie’ lineup including Matt Jackson on guitar and Al Nicholls on sax, and additional musicians who played with them in Europe recently – Ilias De Neve, Bernd Coene and Micha Teller playing rhythm section and keys.
You can also hear The Longshore Drifters, described by Suzie as “a toe tappin’, honky tonkin’, pearl button-wearing bunch of cowboys”. Then there’s an after party at Barnaby’s with DJ Lee Eddington playing till the early hours.
Suzie is excited to be playing in Hastings and St Leonards again and likens it to New Orleans “because of the people, their spirit and lust for life”. She is also grateful for the support she received when she was ill last year and now wants to help others in her position. She says: “Friends and family set up online fundraising for me, my guitarist Matt created a benefit day for me in The Albion and our community blew me away with their generosity.
“Since my recovery, I’ve spoken to so many women [who] want to tell me of their experiences. And now I’m in contact with The Menopause Charity, who are giving me guidance so I can hold open talks within our community; so women can recognise different symptoms and talk openly to people who are having the same experiences.”
If you’d like to get involved, email [email protected] For more information about the new album, go to Sistersuzie.net
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