WORTH A LOOK?: *****

TRACKLIST: Disintegrate; Dancing With The Europeans; Antidepressants; Sweet Kid; The Sound And The Summer; Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star; Broken Music For Broken People; Criminal Ways; Trance State; June Rain; Life Is Endless, Life Is A Moment

The 2nd in the black and white trilogy rather than the ballet album that the best band in the world currently had planned.

• Read on for reasons including how ‘broken’ people will save the world

Antidepressants‘ predecessor, 2022’s Autofiction won our Best Album monsta, and we said of it: ‘Personality Disorder is particularly representative of how the band have described the album as their ‘punk’ record, all jagged guitars and sometimes spoken lyrics’.

We called them ‘the most thrilling live band to see at the moment’ adding: ‘we also can’t wait to hear, when the pendulum swings the other way, what their next more experimental album is going to sound like. We’d also make a case for it being the band’s best ever album ahead of even their much garlanded debut’.

Antidepressants amps up everything that worked on Autofiction, Disintegrate was a song of the month for us in June and Dancing With The Europeans in August. 

We saw them debut the album last week in the Southbank Centre’s Clore Ballroom and wrote: ‘Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star has the feel of an epic, showstopping ballad. Broken Music For Broken People feels lyrically very state of the nation now yet redeems itself by following the title with, we think, ‘… who will save the world’.

On 2nd listen Broken feels key to the binary nature of the album’s theme, alluding to the word’s political use as a weapon and yet finding humanity in the idea the people described in this way will actually save rather than destroy the world.

We 1st heard the title track at the band’s 2024 Alexandra Park gig with Manic Street Preachers and were rather dismissive of it but its lyrical themes of medicating to take control in a world increasingly embracing technology with the aim of connecting people yet actually reinforcing difference neatly sum up the album.

Sweet Kid is about frontman Anderson’s son and the ‘memento mori’ – or remember you must die – idea runs through a number of songs not least Disintegrate but in Sweet Kid it’s perhaps clearest in opening line: ‘We’ve got to make the most of it.’

2nd single Trance State rather passed us by on its summer release but it’s a grower much like its title hints at and our own experience with antidepressant mirtazapine makes the line: ‘I’m unsociable, it’s fine, blame it on the mirtazapine’ all the more relatable.

Antidepressants may be Suede’s ‘post punk’ album but it wouldn’t be the band we know and love without the mad, doomed new romanticisms that have coloured its best work and feature here including Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star and June Rain.

Suede burned bright on their ascent to fame in 1992 and fizzled out with their weakest album a decade later.

In 2013 they returned and the 5 albums they have released since have been more consistent than the 1st 5 they gifted the world.

We can only think that if this is their black and white trilogy Antidepressants is the death to Autofiction‘s birth and next will come the thrilling resurrection.

Although Suede’s star couldn’t be burning brighter and soaring higher than it does now. That ballet album will just have to wait in the wings a little while longer.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Suede Tickets
• Have you seen a Suede show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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