Album Review- (The London) Suede- Antidepressants

I was a huge fan of the band Suede (who were forced into the moniker the London Suede in the US). They were one of my favorite bands of the 90s. Suede were a big deal in the UK, so their career in the US is overshadowed by the fact they could not make the same impact here. Though Britpop in general had only a mild effect on charts here, bands like Oasis, Elastica and the Verve did become household names. 

With hindsight, 1993s self titled debut album was a bigger cultural shock than we probably give it credit for. Even Blur ended up with a radio hit, but Suede remained outside looking in. But their was a lot of buzz around the first album, even some MTV airplay and it seemed that everyone who needed to know, knew. Most bands would be jealous of that kind of success. At the time though, it seemed they were one and done. 

I saw them in 1994 and they were playing a fairly small venue. No surprise with returns like that they gave up conquering the US so easily. Even then, Dog Man Star, the second album, is in my mind, a masterpiece. Much loved by the UK press, you never hear about it on this side of the Atlantic. Unlike the glam stomp of the debut, It was overdramatic and overblown in all the best ways. It also caused a lot of problems with the band, with guitarist Bernard Butler leaving the band before the album was finalized and released. Richard Oakes and Neil Codling joined the band then in Butler's stead. Oakes took the reins as lead guitarist and Codling as keyboardist, with both taking over most of the songwriting (usually in combinations of Anderson/Oakes, Anderson/Codling or Codling and Anderson individually). 

1996s Coming Up is focused on three and a half minute radio ready singles. In my mind it’s overshadowed by the brilliance of the predecessor but it’s still a very good record. 1999s Head Music is in “difficult fourth album” territory, made tougher as Suede had also cranked out two additional albums worth of material in B-sides and non album tracks. It’s a pretty good album even if it didn’t quite match previous heights. It took me awhile to find a copy of 2002s New Morning- the final album in the first chapter of the band. I find it quite uninspired though Allmusic gives it a generally positive review. Suede would break up but reunite a decade later. 

They have now equaled the original iteration’s output - five albums in nine years. Suede’s reunion albums have got plenty of positive reviews and yet in a lot of ways, I found the “second act” a pale imitation of the original. Of these albums, I generally only rate the second (2016s Night Thoughts) highly which is also probably the closest they have gotten to returning to the sound of Dog Man Star.

2025s Antidepressants may be the most well received album of their post reunion years. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. The joke has always been that Suede was too indebted to Bowie and specifically Ziggy Stardust. There’s not been a lot of diversity in their sound since Headmusic and perhaps they have decided that they aren’t going to venture far away from what their fans want. But Antidepressants does feel like Coming Up. Every song has that radio single three and a half minute feel. It’s hard to say why it works so well. Ed Buller is the producer again after the band opted for Alan Moulder on their last album. That’s probably a good thing as he helmed the band’s first three albums, and really has an ear for them. The songs feel like they are made to be played live. The previous album’s orchestral accompaniment is gone. Brett Anderson has made a big deal about the band being a forward looking concern and not Oasis style nostalgia. 

With bands like The Cure and Pulp capturing a bit of their old lighting in a bottle. Producer Buller and songwriters Anderson, Oakes and Codling (the three credited together on many songs) have managed to do a bit of that themselves.