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Album Review
by SashaS
30-9-2002
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Suede's on around 'A New Morning' |
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Suede: 'A New Morning' (Sony)
Suede’s return to happiness and sobriety
Suede have been credited with kick-starting the whole Brit-pop wave almost a decade ago and some would argue it’d been downhill ever since. With the departure of Bernard Butler (who recently admitted to mistakenly leaving after ‘Dog Man Star’ in 1994, due to some minor ego-clashing), the whole creativity’s been in the hands of Brett Anderson as no other creative force has ever emerged in the line-up. And, it’s been a wayward road with some great sonic points made along the way.
By coincidence Supergrass (reviewed on Weds., 02 Oct.) and Suede’s albums are released on the same day and it is interesting to observe how these two bands handle their influences: Supergrass are all over the place, hauling in indiscriminately to create an assortment of jolly ditties, while Suede are more particular, more specific although pedantry doesn’t prevent an album being (mildly) diverse.
The fifth LP finds Suede comfy and apparently happy in re-evolving their past… Elegant and touch elegiac opener ‘Positivity’ lusciously bounces around the room, immediately setting certain tone for the entire disc. This is a mature pop-rock, not the adult version, but miles away from Ash or Supergrass. ‘Lost To TV’ is one of few ‘tributes’ to Bowie, using different voices to express various aspects of storyline; ‘Lonely Girls’ is for all the lovers of great crooning, Scott Walker ought to be altered to this track.
There is a whiff of The Beatles on ‘Beautiful Losers’, while on ‘Untitled’ Anderson almost succeeds in writing his own ‘Wild Is The Wind’. At times it seems that Brett’s obsession goes a bit too far in his canonisation of Bowie but it’s always been only a benchmark and not a goal. Anderson is a capable bandleader and a songwriter with self-restricting interests.
The prevailing problem with so many so-called artistes of the present is that there is a lot of imitation and not enough creation, while in Anderson’s case it is an intellectual tribute, a path Bowie might have taken, or has taken, in a parallel universe, if there are (m)any. ‘A New Morning’ is still pop-rock rooted and not deviating into electronica, funkabilly, cyber-tango, just keeping it rocking as old-skool Brit bands used to do back in the day. Neither too poppy to be disrespected, nor too heavy to be chart ignored, just great guitar-songs that are radio-friendly.
This disc is a new beginning, the title suggests, inasmuch that Anderson is de-drugged… Otherwise, we find Brett and his cohorts in an equanimous frame of mind, not better and defo not worse.
8/10
SashaS
30-9-2002
Suede album ‘A New Morning’ is released 30 September 2002 on Sony
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