Across three albums since 2013, Suede have pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks of recent years, effectively picking up where they left off with 1996’s Coming Up (best draw a veil over 1999’s dire Head Music and 2002’s so-so A New Morning). Their fourth record since regrouping is possibly the pick of the bunch, its renewed sense of urgency locating it a world away from 2018’s atmospheric The Blue Hour, with its field recordings and spoken-word elements.
Throughout, there’s a real back-to-basics feel, courtesy of longtime producer Ed Buller, and a palpable sense of a band enjoying themselves. Verses are punchy, choruses big and Brett Anderson’s vocals particularly powerful. The glam histrionics of That Boy on the Stage genuinely thrill; It’s Always the Quiet Ones is, in its own way, as sweepingly dramatic as 1990s highlight The Wild Ones. The soaring What Am I Without You? maintains the passionate delivery while slowing the tempo, and the propulsive indie of She Still Leads Me On is a moving tribute to Anderson’s late mother. Indeed, there’s barely a misstep in Autofiction’s 45-minute running time. A late-career triumph.
