Tag: Brett Anderson

Here we are sliding into my top five favourite albums of the year and it’s a band that is no stranger at all to these pages. Indeed, they last appeared care of a post back in September on a song for my best tunes of 2013 list, a track called “It starts and ends with you” from the first of what is now a litany of five great reunion albums. I wrote then that despite being a fan of pretty much everything coming out of Britain in the 90s, I didn’t start out being a fan of Suede. Of course, that’s all ancient history and I’ve been following the Brett Anderson led five-piece through all their ups and downs: the early popularity, the loss of their original guitarist, the even greater fame with the Britpop explosion, the drugs and the trials and eventual dissolution of band, and through to their triumphant return and beyond.

The fifteen years since that successful reunion back in 2010 has seen the group release as many albums as they had during their initial run and though perhaps not as commercially successful, these last five have all been critically lauded. Instead of being rehashes of old glories or vanity projects to accompany reunion tours to play old hits, as have done many of their contemporaries, Suede have built on their sound and their legacy with this new music, retaining the energy and excitement they exuded in their early years.

“Antidepressants” is purportedly the second of what is planned to be a trilogy of albums that are thematically and aesthetically “black and white”. The first album of said series, “Autofiction“, was incidentally my fifth favourite album of 2022 and was what frontman Brett Anderson called the group’s “punk album”. Its followup was meant to be bigger and more dramatic, the opposite of “Autofiction”’s stripped back lightning energy, and instead, the direction became slightly more inevitable, angular and dark. Yes, this is their take on post-punk and goth. And man, does this outfit suit Suede like a slinky glove.

“Antidepressants” is eleven excellent and replayable tracks that sparkle when taken out of context but explode as part of the whole. You can’t go wrong having a peek at any of tracks as samples but I’ve nonetheless collected three picks for you below.

“Trance state“: “If I’m unsociable, it’s fine. I’ll blame it on the Mirtazapine. I hope I’m going somewhere nice.” The first of these picks explicitly names one of those antidepressants to which the album title refers. The drug is named as a barrier between people but really it’s just an excuse, a surrogate for a deeper set issue. This theme of connection and disconnection is constant throughout the album but here is prominently flaunted like a new tattoo or a rebellious piercing. The haziness of the guitars and synths are set against a punishing drum line and a muscular, Peter Hook like bass. And Anderson is doing his best to be an objective narrator but he gets caught up in the emotional void in spite of himself.

“Broken music for broken people”: “And under endless skies we fell in love and then we died but when the lights went out, we believed in something rather than nothing.” Members of Suede have referred to the album as a “wide-screen” record and nowhere are those words truer than here. “Broken music” is the closest thing to a classic Suede song as this album gets but it is bigger and more epic, every rimshot, every guitar lick, every hip shake dialled up to eleven. It is an anthem, a call to arms, celebrating the broken people, rather than looking down on them. And it’s not singling anyone out. We are all broken people in our own sense, with our own histories, but we are shined on in a positive light. We are all in this together.

“Disintegrate”: “My baby, feel the rage. Your relationship’s a lie, and the friction makes you scream, but you hold your love like a weapon in your hand.” Track one, the introduction, the tip of the hat, is where the goth influence feels most evident. From the sinister Sisters of Mercy guitars to the haunting Joy Division bass drums and guitars to the playful nod to The Cure’s iconic album for its title, you could be forgiven for double checking the artist name on your music player of choice before Brett Anderson’s unmistakable vocals kick in. “Disintegrate” is deniable. It is punishing. It is fists in the air. It is wearing sunglasses at midnight and dancing in the wee hours like there’s no work in the morning. Such a great tune.

We’ll be back in about a week’s time with album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

London-based quintet, Suede, has made a number of appearances on this blog’s pages already. I’ve already written about how I picked up on them late but once I finally did, it was true love. I’ve touched on how phenomenal their b-sides were in their early days, tackled one of their covers, and even spoken of their untimely disbanding in the early part of the 2000s. But what I haven’t really gotten to thus far is their post-reunion material.

Seven years after their breakup in 2003, the lineup, as it was upon dissolution, re-formed for what was being called a one-off set as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at Royal Albert Hall. Frontman Brett Anderson had such a blast that more shows followed… and then more… and then tours followed by festival circuits. Their first reunion album, “Bloodsports”, appeared in 2013 and picked right up where they should have left off ten years earlier. Two more albums were released in 2016 and 2018, orchestral and dramatic and notable for lacking what one might call ‘radio-friendly singles’.

All of those last three albums have been enjoyed by this particular fan and have also been critically lauded all around. I think with “Autofiction”, though, their 9th studio album and 4th since reforming, Brett Anderson and crew have created their best piece of work since their biggest album, 1996’s “Coming up”. This new one was originally meant to be recorded live, in front of rabid audiences, to capture their own particular live performance energy. Of course, these plans were scuttled due to the pandemic and they chose instead to keep production light, recording with additional musicians, rather than additional layers. Anderson has called this the band’s ‘punk album’ and it certainly has more energy and less bells and whistles.

“Autofiction” sounds like a Suede album from yesteryear but with the maturity and experience of today. It is dramatic and dirty and romantic. It is eleven fantastic tracks that bare their soul to the listener more and more with each listen. It is a complete album and it should be listened to as such, but if you’re lacking the time, you can start with these three tracks that I’ve picked out for you.

“It’s always the quiet ones“: “Oh they stay in shadows, all the heart breakers. Oh they stay in shadows, all the trouble makers. It’s always the quiet ones.” Isn’t this always the case, though? From the haunting and menacing intro to the feedback screams and uplifting chorus, track nine torments us and warns us not to take anything for granted. And then it screams away into the night.

“What am I without you”: The finale track on the album is the six minute exercise in introspection and self-appraisal. Anderson is recognizing his lot as an entertainer and the rest of the band backs him up with their guns a-blazing. To the question he asks himself over and over – “What am I without you?” – you can almost see him shrinking under the heat of the spotlight. The answer can only be: “I’m nothing without you, so let love burn.”

“She still leads me on”: “But I loved her with my last breath. And I loved her with a love that was strong as death. And I loved her when she was unkind. And I loved her, I loved her, a dangerous mind.” The album’s first track and first single is Anderson’s musings on the death of his mother some thirty-plus years ago. It is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful and passionate. And man does it rock!

We’ll be back in a couple days with album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Blushing “Possessions”
9. Just Mustard “Heart under”
8. Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”
7. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”
6. Tallies “Patina”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.