Frontman of Suede, Brett Anderson, claims “we’re the anti-nostalgia band”, positing Suede as a band who are not looking back or attempting to recreate their Britpop classics of the 90s, but is instead always responding to their immediate environment, a changing one.

 While ‘Antidepressants’ isn’t exactly a sharp turn or change for the band in terms of sound, their latest album is no exception to this, which is inherently concerned with modern life as the band reflects on the different forms of connection and disconnection that both pervade and are absent from our lives. 

Where ‘Autofiction’ (2022) was indie-rock, punky, and punchy, ‘Antidepressants’ takes this raw, frustrated energy and transforms it into something much more reflective, encompassing the tensions of modern life, the joys, relationships, medication/drugs, loss, and hope. At its heart, the album is about finding community in an increasingly unstable world.

The album’s cover itself is a distortion of the ‘Autofiction’ cover, where in the former cover Anderson is shown lying, naked, face down, clutching himself; here he is posed shirtless in a deliberate recreation of John Deakin’s photograph of Francis Bacon, sat facing the camera with disturbing hangings of meat on either side of him as wings. The image is the epitome of anxiety and vulnerability. Anderson himself states, “it feels increasingly like the world is teetering on the edge of something”- this feeling permeates ‘Antidepressants’.

The opening track 'Disintegrate' immediately lays a strong foundation and reveals the album’s social concerns, opening with a digitised voice repeating “connected, disconnected”, accompanied by a pulsating, ominous riff. These portentous ambient sounds are deployed throughout the album, including transport warnings and phone notifications, which create a sense of the constant noise and anxiety of life today. Suede here reminds us that we are constantly “connected” in a sense, connected in a way we can barely escape in a society that now almost completely relies on technology, but potentially at the detriment of real, meaningful human connection. Anderson calls out, “come down and disintegrate with me”, almost offering an invitation to the listener to join the band and let go of this tension, to disconnect and, in doing s,o connect with others. It is a call for community and freedom.

Suede picks up the pace with tracks such as ‘Dancing With The Europeans’ and ‘Trance State’, which simultaneously celebrate and critique connection. The former track is upbeat and catchy, but lyrics such as “something inside craves the artificial life” expose the idea of happiness being simulated and falsified, which undercuts the album as a recurring motif, aligning with the notion of “antidepressants” as a kind of forced mood boost. Meanwhile, the post-punky ‘Trance State’, with its groovy bassline and catchy chorus, is a highlight, describing how another person can transform your “state” like a drug might, serving as a kind of natural antidepressant. And of course, the titular track, ‘Antidepressants’, epitomises this concern, being punky, glammy and electric, with vocals that are almost reminiscent of Sex Pistols.

Furthermore, much slower tracks including ‘June Rain’, an almost ballad of love and loss, ‘Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star’ and the final track, ‘Life Is Endless, Life Is A Moment’ reflect on the place of humanity, love and letting go in time and space, with the dichotomies of “atom” and “star” and “a moment” and “endless”, Suede evoke concerns over how we spend our time, and how even if life feels long, it also flies by before you know it – “it’s hard to say goodbye”.

Yet the album is far from pessimistic. Indie-sounding, more upbeat and bright tracks such as ‘The Sound And The Summer’ ease the tension. ‘Sweet Kid’ seems to place hope in the younger generation but also encompasses the optimism of youth – “this life belongs to you” denotes how for a “kid”, the world is their oyster and the possibilities are endless. While slower tracks, including ‘Broken Music For Broken People’, seem to summarise Suede’s hopeful intentions with their music as Anderson resounds, “it’s broken music and it’s broken people / Who will save the world, oh oh save the world”, encouraging listeners to “forget about the money” and instead authentically connect. This track reminds us that it is ordinary people that we can truly believe in and that art has the power to be life-changing.

With another provocative and catchy album, Suede leaves no doubt that Britpop is back, or never actually went anywhere, and for them, it is not about 90s nostalgia but responding to the Britain we live in today. In their own words, “broken music” will “save the world”.

 

Emily Sanderson

Image: Dean Chalkley

 

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