|
| 
Alas, as it goes with almost every great band, Suede seems
to have called it quits. It was inevitable really, the recording of their last
album, 2002’s A New Morning, was rife
with self-doubt and difficulty. The eventual album left much to be desired,
with only the most die-hard and deluded of Suede fans being able to give it
regular listens. This news is even less shocking as the last couple of months
have seen such end of the line moves as the release of a best of singles
collection, a definitive band approved biography, and a series of five London
concerts where they played each album in its entirety. All of this was clearly
a case of the band tying up loose ends before bowing out somewhat gracefully.
The official statement on the band’s website reads as follows:
“Suede would like to announce that
from next year they will be working on their own individual projects. There
will not be a new studio album until the band feel that the moment is
artistically right to make one. This announcement does not affect the
forthcoming touring commitments. Suede would like to thank the fans for their
wonderful support over the years.
See you in the next life.”
Although this somewhat vague
statement does not say that the band has split up for good, it seems that we
may have to wait for a potentially embarrassing reunion tour in years to come
to see the band back in action, unless they find the artistically right moment
any time soon. Those of you that happen to be in London on December 13th
can try and get into Suede’s probable last ever show (for a long while at
least) at the Astoria. Of course the show is already sold out.
As news spread across the official
Suede message board, fans reacted with both grief and resignation. Some fans
posted insults to the band, while others admitted that it was time for the band
to lay down their instruments. Some predicted that lead singer Brett Anderson
would record a solo album with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, who has
kept himself busy since leaving the band towards the end of recording 1994’s
masterwork Dog Man Star. Butler did
tell Under the Radar earlier this year that he wouldn’t be opposed to working
with Anderson again. “If Brett Anderson came to me tomorrow and wanted
me to write a piece of music, and it was at the right time, and I had time to
do it, and he wanted to do it, then I would do it. ‘Cause I think that I could do something great there that isn't
being done,” Butler told us, although he was quick to point out that he wasn’t
desperate to rejoin Suede or anything. “This is no way me saying ‘I want to
rejoin Suede’ or ‘I’m going to have a Spinal Tap reunion with Suede.’ When asked, I would do anything creatively
if I thought it was at the right time for the right reason,” Butler said,
setting the record straight. “Every time I say anything of this kind it just
gets so out of hand. People just take the wrong end of the stick and say that
I’m begging to rejoin Suede or something, you know that's just ludicrous.”
Butler has already been working on the third McAlmont & Butler album, one
of the many projects he’s worked on since leaving Suede.
Suede debuted in the early 90’s to the praise of ‘best new
band in Britain’ and are generally considered to be the band that spearheaded
the Brit-Pop movement that also included such bands Pulp, Blur, Oasis and
Supergrass. Their self-titled 1993 debut album was both a commercial and
critical smash. Many consider 1994’s epic follow-up Dog Man Star to be even better. Dog
Man Star brought the departure of Butler, due to creative differences with
producer Ed Buller during the mixing of the record. Around the same time the
band was also forced to adopt the name The London Suede for all American
releases and tours, due to some obscure stateside female soft-rock singer who
went under the same name. The general consensus is that each subsequent album
(1996’s Coming Up and 1999’s Head Music) was just a little bit not
quite as good as the last, until quality took a nose dive with 2002’s troubled A New Morning (which they had to record
twice to get wrong).
Still, we here at Under the Radar had not given up on Suede.
Every band has a disappointing album once in awhile and we had hoped that they
would rebound. Alas, instead they may have to reform first. The band reportedly
had already begun work on their next album when they had a group meeting and
reached this decision.
