When it comes to the famed bands of the ‘90s, most either fade into obscurity or struggle to ever reach their past heights. Yet, sometimes, an act emerges that defies this pattern of rise and fade, reshaping its sound and proving that there is life beyond the initial wave of success. With Antidepressants, Suede, also known as The London Suede, has proven that they are one of them.

Formed in 1989 by then-college students Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann with Mat Osman, Suede was once crowned as one of the big four of Britpop alongside Pulp, Oasis, and Blur. Three years after 2022’s Autofiction, the band’s venture into post-punk and gothic rock, they are back with Antidepressants.

Just as you hear the glitchy vocal recording on opener Disintegrate, one thing becomes clear: this might be the darkest Suede album yet. The roaring track is essentially a paranoid meditation on death and the collapse of everything, whether it be the self, relationships, or culture. Suede is back to remind you that even in decay there is intimacy, in death a sense of strange beauty, as Anderson sings, “come down and disintegrate with me”. Meanwhile, Dancing With The Europeans sees the band seemingly fuse their Britpop roots with a Cure-like goth-pop anthem. Renovating the past without ever disconnecting from it.

The record is urgent in its themes of mortality and the ache of fading youth. On the title track, Antidepressants, a wonderful drum passage crushes Anderson’s catharsis: “I try to be brave but there’s not much time / Is there?”. Somewhere Between an Atom and a Star sounds like a mix of Floyd and Bowie, with its epic beginning and build into an elegant chorus. Yet, it doesn’t feel derivative in the slightest; instead, it feels organic, just like a memory unfolding. Trance State, previously released as a single, is a haunting exploration of emotional disconnect, centered around a central bass groove that grows as the track progresses. The emotion in Anderson’s voice is felt as he sings, “I see your face and I fade away / And I hear your name / I’m in a trance, I’m in a trance state”. The way the bass follows his voice throughout the chorus is particularly nice, and just a reminder of how Suede pays attention to the finest of details.

Closing track, Life is Endless, Life is a Moment, sounds immensely dissimilar from anything from the band’s first few albums. Even if they are not super proud of it, they were among the pioneers of Britpop, and hearing the tribal drums and the thick, glooming riff on the track is refreshing. Not only because we already have their magnum opus Dog Man Star and the equally great releases Suede and Coming Up in their classic sound, but also because it is an example of the rare case where a band doesn’t just stop. Here, Suede proves that reinvention is possible, crafting something that honors their legacy while still feeling bold and worth your time in an era where most legends simply do not live up to their legacies.

Few bands sound as vital and daring as Suede do thirty years into their career. Beautifully defiant, Antidepressants confronts death, existentialism, and modern anxiety in dynamic Suede fashion.

Pre-order Antidepressants by Suede HERE