FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Sixty-Two: Suede
___________
IN this edition…
I am focusing on an iconic British group. Suede are a band who have been performing together for decades. With a new album due this year and tour dates planned, they are still going strong. Before getting to the albums of theirs you should invest in, here is some biography regarding the London band:
“Suede kick-started the Brit-pop revolution of the '90s, taking English indie pop/rock music away from the swirling layers of shoegaze and dance-pop fusions of Madchester, and reinstating such conventions of British pop as mystique and the three-minute single. Before the band had even released a single, the U.K. weekly music press was proclaiming them the "Best New Band in Britain," but Suede managed to survive their heavy hype due to the songwriting team of vocalist Brett Anderson and guitarist Bernard Butler. Equally inspired by the glam crunch of David Bowie and the romantic bedsit pop of the Smiths, Anderson and Butler developed a sweeping, guitar-heavy sound that was darkly sensual, sexually ambiguous, melodic, and unabashedly ambitious. At the time of the release of their first single, "The Drowners," in 1992, few of their contemporaries -- whether it was British shoegazers or American grunge rockers -- had any ambitions to be old-fashioned, self-consciously controversial pop stars, and the British press and public fell hard for Suede, making their 1993 debut the fastest-selling first album in U.K. history. Though they had rocketed to the top in the U.K., Suede were plagued with problems, the least of which was an inability to get themselves heard in America. Anderson and Butler's relationship became antagonistic during the recording of their second album, Dog Man Star, and the guitarist left the band before its fall release, which inevitably hurt its sales. Instead of breaking up, the band soldiered on, adding new guitarist Richard Oakes and a keyboardist before returning in 1996 with Coming Up, an album that took them to the top of the British charts.
Through all of Suede's incarnations, vocalist/lyricist Brett Anderson and bassist Mat Osman remained at the band's core. The son of a cabdriver, Anderson formed the Smiths-inspired Geoff in 1985 with his schoolmate Osman and drummer Danny Wilder. Anderson was the group's guitarist; Gareth Perry was the band's vocalist. Geoff recorded two demos before splitting up in 1986, as Anderson and Osman left to attend university in London. A few years later, the pair formed Suave & Elegant, which lasted only a few months. By the end of 1989, the pair had placed an advertisement in New Musical Express, asking for a "non-muso" guitarist. Bernard Butler responded, and the trio began recording songs, primarily written by Anderson and Butler, with the support of a drum machine. Taking the name Suede after Morrissey's "Suedehead" single, the trio sent a demo tape, Specially Suede, to compete in Demo Clash, a radio show on GLR run by DJ Gary Crowley. "Wonderful Sometimes" won Demo Clash for five Sundays in a row in 1990, leading to a record contract with the Brighton-based indie label RML. By the time the band signed with RML, Anderson's girlfriend, Justine Frischmann, had joined as a second guitarist.
Suede placed an advertisement for a drummer, and former Smiths member Mike Joyce responded. Joyce appeared on the group's debut single for RML, "Be My God"/"Art." Scheduled to be released on a 12" in the fall of 1990, the single was scrapped shortly before its release due to a fight between the band and the label. Throughout 1991, the group rehearsed and recorded demos, eventually adding drummer Simon Gilbert. Frischmann left Suede in early 1992 to form Elastica; she was not replaced. A few months later, Suede signed a two-single deal with the indie label Nude Records. Shortly afterward, the band appeared on the cover of Melody Maker, without having released any material. The weekly newspaper declared them the Best New Band in Britain.
"The Drowners," the band's first single, appeared shortly after the Melody Maker cover, and it became a moderate hit, debuting at number 49 to strong reviews and word of mouth. "Metal Mickey," released in the fall, became their breakthrough hit, reaching number 17 on the U.K. charts after a suggestive, controversial performance on Top of the Pops. Anderson soon became notorious for causing controversy, and his infamous comment that he was "a bisexual man who never had a homosexual experience" was indicative of how the group both courted controversy and a sexually ambiguous, alienated audience.
A short tour before the spring release of their eponymous debut album was very successful, setting the stage for "Animal Nitrate" debuting at number seven. Shortly afterward, Suede entered the charts at number one, registering the biggest initial sales of a debut since Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome. By the summer, Suede had become the most popular band in Britain -- winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize for Best Album that fall -- and they attempted to make headway into the United States. Their progress was halted when Butler's father died that fall, forcing the cancellation of their second tour; they had already begun to be upstaged by their opening act, the Cranberries, who received the support from MTV that Suede lacked. Shortly afterward, the band was forced to change its name to the London Suede in America, due to a lawsuit from an obscure lounge singer performing under the name Suede.
Tensions had begun to develop between Bernard Butler and the rest of the band during the group's 1993 tours, and they peaked when they reentered the studio to record a new single in late 1993. Butler conceived the song "Stay Together" as a sweeping epic partially in tribute to his father, and while it was a success upon its February 1994 release, debuting at number three, the recording was not easy. As they were working on Suede's second album, Anderson and Butler began to fight frequently, with the guitarist claiming in a rare interview that the singer worked too slowly and that his partner was too concerned with rock stardom, often at the expense of the music. Butler left the band toward the end of the sessions for the second album, and the group finished the record with Anderson playing guitar. Bernard's departure launched a flurry of speculation about Suede's future, and Dog Man Star didn't answer any of those questions. The grandiose, ambitious, and heavily orchestrated Dog Man Star was greeted with enthusiastic reviews but muted commercial response. As Suede were working on their second album, their remarkable commercial success was eclipsed by that of Blur and Oasis, whose lighter, more accessible music brought both groups blockbuster success in the wake of Suede.
While Dog Man Star sold nearly as well as Suede, the impression in the press was that the group was rapidly falling apart, and the band didn't help matters when Butler was replaced by Richard Oakes, a 17-year-old amateur guitarist, in September. Suede embarked on a long, grueling international tour in late 1994 and the spring of 1995, before disappearing to work on their third album. In the interim, Butler had a Top Ten single with vocalist David McAlmont, and Gilbert, the only gay member of Suede, was attacked in a hate crime in the fall. At a fan club gig in January of 1996, Suede debuted several new songs, as well as their new keyboardist, Neil Codling, Gilbert's cousin. The group returned as a five-piece in September of 1996 with Coming Up. A lighter, more band-oriented affair than either of Suede's two previous albums, Coming Up was an unexpected hit, entering the charts at number one and generating a remarkable string of five Top Ten hits -- "Trash," "Beautiful Ones," "Saturday Night," "Lazy," and "Filmstar." Coming Up was a hit throughout Europe, Canada, and Asia, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until the spring of 1997.
Coming Up never did win an audience in America, partially because it appeared nearly a year after its initial release and partially because Suede only supported it with a three-city tour. Nevertheless, the record was their most successful release to date, setting expectations high for the follow-up. Upon their return to the studio in the fall of 1998, Suede decided to ditch their longtime producer, Ed Buller, choosing to work with Steve Osborne, who had previously produced New Order and Happy Mondays. The resulting album, Head Music, was released in May of 1999; an American release followed in June. Featuring heavy use of analog synthesizers and drum machines, Head Music divided opinion among hardcore Suede fans, who preferred the band's more guitar-centric approach. However, the production changes were largely aesthetic, and the band still delivered plenty of anthemic glitter rock glitz with songs like "Electricity," "Can't Get Enough," and "She's in Fashion."
Around 2001, Suede found themselves at a career crossroads. Keyboardist Codling, who had contributed greatly to the writing on Head Music, left the band and was replaced by Strangelove's Alex Lee. Adding to the sense of change, the band's label, Nude Records, went bankrupt and Suede were left at the mercy of their parent label, Sony. Also around this time, Anderson, having struggled with drug addiction (he later admitted to being a crack addict), finally decided to get clean. Despite these upheavals, by 2003 Suede had finished their fifth studio album, the Stephen Street-produced A New Morning. Unfortunately, public interest in Suede, not to mention the Brit-pop sound, had faded by the early 2000s and the album sold poorly. Several concerts followed in support of the band's 2003 compilation, Singles, but by October, Suede had announced they would not be releasing any new music in the foreseeable future. They played their final concert at the London Astoria on December 13, 2003, before going on indefinite hiatus. Following the break, Anderson did the previously unthinkable and reunited with original Suede guitarist Bernard Butler under the name the Tears. The duo released a well-received 2005 album, Here Come the Tears. Also during the hiatus, Anderson recorded four low-key solo albums with 2007's Brett Anderson, 2008's Wilderness, 2009's Slow Attack, and 2011's Black Rainbows.
Finally, in 2010, with Codling back on board, Suede reunited for several live shows beginning with a performance at the Teenage Cancer Trust show at Royal Albert Hall on March 24. This led to more shows, including a tour promoting the compilation album The Best of Suede. By 2011, the band had begun performing new songs live, and in 2012, Suede announced they were in the studio working on a new album with producer Ed Buller, who had produced the band's first three albums. In 2013, Suede released their sixth studio album and first album of all-original material since 2003, Blood Sports. Suede debuted several of the Blood Sports tracks online, including "Barriers" and "It Starts and Ends with You." The release featured a more mature perspective from Anderson, and a sound that harked back to the grand guitar pop of Suede's early work. After playing anniversary concerts celebrating Dog Man Star in 2014, Suede returned to the studio to make their seventh studio album. In September 2015, they announced the impending release of Night Thoughts. A dark, majestic album that recalled Dog Man Star, Night Thoughts saw release in late January 2016, debuting at six on the U.K. charts. Later that year, the band released a super deluxe 20th anniversary edition of Coming Up. The band spent 2017 in the studio writing and recording their eighth LP. The record -- titled The Blue Hour -- marked the first effort collaboration with producer Alan Moulder (the Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails) and arrived in September 2018. The Blue Hour debuted at five in the U.K., their best chart position since Head Music in 1999.
In 2018, the band was the subject of a documentary called Suede: The Insatiable Ones, which was directed by Mike Christie”.
To celebrate the legacy and influence of Suede, I will focus on the albums of theirs that you will want to own; one that is underrated and worth seeking out. I will also list their latest studio album and point you in the direction of a book that makes for useful reading. Not only are Suede one of the best bands of the past decades. They are definitely…
ONE of the most distinct.
_____________
The Four Essential Albums
Suede
Release Date: 29th March, 1993
Label: Nude
Producer: Ed Buller
Standout Tracks: So Young/The Drowners/The Next Life
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/suede/suede-fbba5a9f-fd94-4113-922b-aa17fb2e8bfb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7uCoh6iOPS2yMIJO1WAjvX?si=DMieRR6GQ46TXjKUPB2Xaw&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Borrowing heavily from David Bowie and the Smiths, Suede forge a distinctively seductive sound on their eponymous album. Guitarist Bernard Butler has a talent for crafting effortlessly catchy, crunching glam hooks like the controlled rush of "Metal Mickey" and the slow, sexy grind of "The Drowners," but he also can construct grand, darkly romantic soundscapes like the sighing "Sleeping Pills" and the tortured "Pantomime Horse." What brings these elegant sounds to life is Brett Anderson, who invests them with bed-sit angst and seamy sex. Anderson's voice is calculatedly affected and theatrical, but it fits the grand emotion of his self-consciously poetic lyrics. Suede are working-class lads striving for glamour, and they achieve it by piecing together remnants of the past with pieces of the present, never forgetting the value of a strong hook in the process. And while the sound of Suede frequently recalls the peak of glam rock, its punk-influenced passion and self-conscious appropriation of the past make it thoroughly postmodern. Coincidentally, its embrace of trashy pop helped usher in an era of Britpop, but few bands captured the theatrical melancholy that gave Suede such resonance” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Animal Nitrate
Dog Man Star
Release Date: 10th October, 1994
Label: Nude
Producer: Ed Buller
Standout Tracks: The Wild Ones/New Generation/The Asphalt World
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/suede/dog-man-star-c32db7e1-811f-43c5-af87-67dbf9d35a16
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1LgpJjBJIRQhkJ01oZR3Cn?si=N92xCiJ3TAm1vvbc5EyxZg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“But first, meet the new Brett Anderson. The old mewling cross-breed - part Notting Hill boho, part dreamy barrow boy - isn't here: there's no "Dad, she's driving me mad", no nocturnal waifs described as "lovely little numbers", relatively little of the shrill yelper who smeared himself over 'Suede'. This Brett has almost everything he sings iced with echo. He frequently lapses into a soft baritone. He speaks, on occasion, with a booming authority. And with that change comes a shift in the songs. The minds that spawned the opening blood-and-glitter trilogy - 'The Drowners', 'Metal Mickey', 'Animal Nitrate' - have steadily become consumed by something bigger: codas, orchestras, music that can be huge. And Brett's stories require nothing less: the proclamations of a lifestyle laced with sordidness, the council homes and broken bones, have been all but lost in a theatrical flurry of traditional tragedy and euphoria. The songs of 'Dog Man Star' are grand designs, enacted against grandiose backdrops.
Naturally, there were portents of all this: 'Sleeping Pills', 'The Next Life', and most recently, the eight-minute thunderstorm that was 'Stay Together'. And what links this record with even its most clipped, trash-strewn predecessors is its over-arching sense of place, the fact that Brett roots the lion's share of his words in the decaying expanse of modern Britain. "England is simultaneously maddening and beautiful, and that's something I want to get across in the songs," he told NME in February. Such is the charm of large swathes of this record.
Its prologue seems to be a sliver of autobiography. 'Introducing The Band' may well be Suede's ascent recounted in an altered state: a throbbing, robotic vignette whose words flip between being too esoteric to translate, and satirically poking at the mythologised take on how they got here. "The tears of suburbia drowned the land," sings Brett, soaking his own history in soft-focus romance - only to sow disquiet when he alludes to the forces that turned him into a garish cut-out. "Steal me a savage, subservient son," goes the third verse. "Get him shacked-up, bloodied-up and sucking on a gun/I want the style of a woman, the kiss of a man..."
This is one of the few obvious Brett-the-star references; by the song's close, he has epochal matters in mind, trailing the blazing visions of 'We Are The Pigs' with a gleeful wish for the late 1990s: "Let the century die to violent hands," he sings, like a public school dorm-boy messing with the Ouija board. Thus - after a looped fade-out roughly translated as "dying-um-dying-um" - begins a stylised riot.
'We Are The Pigs' is the best Suede single to date: the rock'n'roll equivalent of operatic moments of peasants coming down from the hills to lynch the squire. Well, the church bells are calling/Police cars on fire," leers Brett, as the disorder boils over, launching a clarion call for every social deviant. Along with everything else (most notably, Bernard's unfettered, wilfully hamfisted guitar), the horns - knowingly stolen from 'Peter Gunn' - make '...Pigs' an exemplar of the thrilling hybrid of Camp Violence. And like a lot of this album, it's set within yards of your back door. That's why you get the shivers” – NME
Choice Cut: We Are the Pigs
Bloodsports
Release Date: 18th March, 2013
Label: Warner Bros.
Producers: Ed Buller
Standout Tracks: For the Strangers/Hit Me/Faultlines
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=535446&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0KxFgCRvWpee2Dd7D7kRyM?si=dJXZEVuATZ6LUnqWFYD4tA&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Throughout Bloodsports, Suede consistently strikes the balance between decadence and elegance-- a “world wrapped in tinsel,” swathed in “lipstick traces” and “second-hand furs”-- that marked their signature work. But where Anderson once aligned himself with his fellow misfits, on Bloodsports he’s seeking more meaningful, one-on-one connections. Though it climaxes with a bleacher-baiting gang chorus, the Joshua Tree-toppling salvo “Barriers” is, at its core, an intimate, open-hearted address from someone who wants his relationships to be measured in years rather than nights. And it gets Bloodsports off to a terrifically rousing start; the succeeding “Snowblind” and “It Starts and Ends With You” both come loaded with the sort of do-or-die urgency and knockout choruses to earn retroactive placement on 2010’s Best of Suede compilation.
It’s fitting that Suede are staging their comeback the same month as their patron saint, David Bowie (with whom Anderson famously shared an NME cover back in 1993). But where Bowie spends much of The Next Day sardonically addressing his extended absence and his own mortality, Andrerson hurtles himself into Bloodsports with the stern-faced intent of someone who is grateful to have been granted a second chance and determined not to let it go to waste. And if his outsize passion isn’t enough to push every big-tent ballad over the top (like the middling “Sabotage”) or sell you on the odd underwritten chorus (e.g., “Come on and hit me/ With your mystery”), he keeps the frisson flowing well into Bloodsports’ more atmospheric and despairing second act. As the wide-eyed romanticism heard in the album’s opening stretch gives way to a vicious cycle of emotional dependency (“Sometimes I Feel I’ll Float Away”), betrayal (the eerily desolate “What Are You Not Telling Me?”), and predatory, restraining-order-worthy behaviour (the ominous “Always”), the band respond with their weightiest, most calamitous music since side two of 1994’s darkly epic Dog Man Star.
But if Bloodsports stays faithful to Suede’s signature sound, it represents a refreshing evolution in spirit. This is not the place to go to indulge your student-disco nostalgia; rather than try to swagger back onto the scene and try to out-snort men half their age, Suede shrewdly draw our attention to those youthful indiscretions-- ego, insecurity, obsession-- that we never seem to outgrow”- Pitchfork
Choice Cut: It Starts and Ends with You
Night Thoughts
Release Date: 22nd January, 2016
Label: Warner Music UK
Producers: Ed Buller/Neil Codling (add.)
Standout Tracks: Outsiders/Pale Snow/Like Kids
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=947780&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5cyFF9f6VhtSXIr3GZ88sD?si=KgLlqpQ-QL-X3k5NgF5QrQ&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Night Thoughts is a quintessentially Suede title: specific yet vague, a notion that seems either romantic or sad depending on perspective. Twenty years, a decade of which was spent in a split, certainly has shifted Suede's perspective, particularly that of leader Brett Anderson. In his younger years, Anderson couldn't resist the tragic but as he settles into middle age, his work bears an unmistakable undercurrent of gratitude: no longer racing against a nuclear sunset, he's meditating upon the elongated stillness of night. It's a shift of attitude, a maturation mirrored by Suede consolidating their strengths. Leaving behind frivolous trash -- it is, after all, a sound that suits the young -- Suede embrace their inherent glamorous grandeur, playing miniatures as if they were epics while reining in excess. In a sense, Night Thoughts functions as the Dog Man Star to Bloodsports, an album that dwarfs its predecessor in both sound and sensibility. If Dog Man Star threatened to topple upon its own ambition -- part of its charm is how it meandered into endless darkness -- that makes the precision of Night Thoughts all the more impressive; it is the work of a band whose members know precisely how to execute their ideas. Here, the longest epic crests just over six minutes ("I Don't Know How to Reach You"), and the 12 songs seem interlocked, if not precisely conceptually then certainly thematically, with each element elegantly playing off the last. Sometimes, there are echoes of their past but this is knowing; "Like Kids" cascades like an inverted "New Generation," pulsating with the same passion but with an eye toward the past, not future. Despite this glance over the shoulder, there's a sense that Suede are happy not only to be through all the turmoil but to bear the scars of well-fought battles. With that past behind them, Suede can still dwell on big issues of love and mortality, but now that the past is in perspective, it all means a little bit more and what lies ahead is a little more precious, and that wide view makes Night Thoughts all the more moving” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: What I'm Trying to Tell You
The Underrated Gem
Head Music
Release Date: 3rd May, 1999
Label: Nude
Producer: Steve Osborne
Standout Tracks: Electricity/Can't Get Enough/Everything Will Flow
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=10117&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3UwCRY6FG04ADuNp793vSz?si=NXZogx29T-KXDp_C-0FiVQ&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Brett may well be smacking the horse, shagging the pony, heating his meat to the gasoline beat, but, man alive, four albums in the plot is wearing thin. And if it's boring for us after seven years, what must it be like for him?
Which is why calling it 'Head Music' is a hoax. This isn't music for the mind, not unless you enjoy rereading the same book over and over, it's for the waist (calling it hip music might be pushing it). At its vibrant, snakey best, as on the single, 'Electricity', or the Codling-penned, Glitter-Band-cover-The-Fall stomp of 'Elephant Man', or 'She's In Fashion' (Rula Lenska breezes past, on roller blades, followed by a waft of Givenchy), this is hair-raising pop. It's not always their own pop, but if the melodies are sometimes borrowed, the delivery is always Suede's. It wiggles its autograph from speaker to listener with a distinctive fluorescent flourish.
But while Suede may be writing some of the most exciting pop of their career, they're also striking out for new pastures. Such as reggae. Oh yes, and oh no. 'Savoir Faire' is the first song that Brett's skanked upon and perhaps he should leave it at that. We, however, can't. "She make love and she swallow a dove in her room, room, room", wails Brett like Sir John Gielgud after a hit of skunk and you wonder if he's some kind of prude. Who else thinks this sort of behaviour, taking drugs, having sex, is remarkable after a decade immersed in a leather-clad rock band?
There are other strange influences at work too on 'Head Music' and they always work better than the reggae. 'Can't Get Enough' - in which Brett declares he, "feels real, like a man, like a woman, like a woman, like a man"! Ace! - is a brilliantly pounding metallic singalong with a chorus tune not unfamiliar with 'I'm A Man' by the Spencer Davis Group. Strange, but actually good. Less good is the overwrought balladry of 'He's Gone' which, if you're feeling charitable, sounds a bit like 'Avalon' by Roxy Music but actually borrows from - ugh - Chris De Burgh's 'The Lady In Red'.
Beyond these details (did we mention how 'Everything Flows' is akin to Duran Duran's 'Save A Prayer'?) it's clear that Suede have tried to move their sound on, using keyboards and other wired musical devices, and they've pulled it off without sounding forced or arch. It's futuristic and alien, like a rock'n'roll Tubeway Army, and it suits them.
And if Brett's looking for ways to break out of the lyrical pen he's boxed himself into, then the clue is already here, on 'Indian Strings'. At last, as Brett moans through a sweeping veil of strings, "You will see my heart has broken too/Because I've seen the real you", we learn something autobiographical. In fact the song could be for us because at last we've finally caught a glimpse of the real him too”– NME
Choice Cut: She’s in Fashion
The Latest Album
The Blue Hour
Release Date: 21st September, 2018
Label: Warner Music UK
Producers: Alan Moulder/Neil Codling (add.)
Standout Tracks: Life Is Golden/ Don't Be Afraid If Nobody Loves You/The Invisibles
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1425381&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1jQpwIHC250JWDTGxUG1JJ?si=15IMbJc-RG6oQasLj6cArA&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Desperate parents with search dogs stagger through undergrowth, howling the name of their lost son. In the thick of night, a man and child bury something that may be a dead bird, or something heavier. Screams and chants mingle beneath chorales summoned forth from The Omen and piano refrains compelled by the power of Christ straight out of The Exorcist.
Never knowingly understated, the reformed Suede have followed the desolate, widescreen kitchen sink drama of 2016’s Night Thoughts – which arrived alongside an album-length film by Roger Sargent tracing the flashbacks of a drowning man – by going full gritty Brit horror flick. Their tone remains the towering, grandiose theatre of the ruined romantic but, in the cinematic parlance they’ve been aspiring to since 1992, The Blue Hour is less Human Traffic or Nil By Mouth, more Kill List.
With age, family and sobriety, Suede’s albums have slowly drifted out of the city, shifting scenes from urban swirl to suburban stagnation, and now to the rusted playgrounds and glass-spattered flyovers of the ring-road wastelands. Here, with ominous strings and operatic choirs, singer Brett Anderson paints a dark, impressionistic moodscape a bit like a post-Britpop version of recent horror film Hereditary. Sinister interludes – a poem about a dead bird called “Roadkill”, a mysterious night burial scene, the Brechtian menace of “Chalk Circles” – separate The Blue Hour into four indistinct acts, loosely related to Anderson’s recent autobiography Coal Black Mornings and each containing a smattering of sublime moments like fine-cut opals wrapped in bloodied bedsheets” – The Independent
Choice Cut: Wastelands
The Suede Book
Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn
Publication Date: 5th November, 2020
Author: Brett Anderson
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Synopsis:
“The second volume of memoirs from the engaging Suede frontman moves into the decadent whirlwind of the Britpop era, and finds Anderson battling addiction, narcissism and explosive creative tension within the band. Unflinchingly honest and elegantly written, Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn provides an intoxicating snapshot of a turbulent cultural era.
The trajectory of Suede - hailed in infancy as both 'The Best New Band in Britain' and 'effete southern wankers' - is recalled with moving candour by its frontman Brett Anderson, whose vivid memoir swings seamlessly between the tender, witty, turbulent, euphoric and bittersweet.
Suede began by treading the familiar jobbing route of London's emerging new 1990s indie bands - gigs at ULU, the Camden Powerhaus and the Old Trout in Windsor - and the dispiriting experience of playing a set to an audience of one. But in these halcyon days, their potential was undeniable. Anderson's creative partnership with guitarist Bernard Butler exposed a unique and brilliant hybrid of lyric and sound; together they were a luminescent team - burning brightly and creating some of the era's most revered songs and albums.
In Afternoons with the Blinds drawn, Anderson unflinchingly explores his relationship with addiction, heartfelt in the regret that early musical bonds were severed, and clear-eyed on his youthful persona. 'As a young man . . . I oscillated between morbid self-reflection and vainglorious narcissism' he writes. His honesty, sharply self-aware and articulate, makes this a compelling autobiography, and a brilliant insight into one of the most significant bands of the last quarter century” – Waterstones
Buy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/afternoons-with-the-blinds-drawn/brett-anderson/9780349143644