Antidepressants (album)

Last updated

Antidepressants
Antidepressants Suede.jpg
Studio album by
Released5 September 2025
Studio
  • ICP, Brussels
  • RAK, London
  • Sleeper Sounds, London
  • RMV, Stockholm
Genre
Length39:27
Label BMG
Producer Ed Buller
Suede chronology
Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2
(2025)
Antidepressants
(2025)
Singles from Antidepressants
  1. "Disintegrate"
    Released: 19 May 2025
  2. "Trance State"
    Released: 11 June 2025
  3. "Dancing with the Europeans"
    Released: 28 July 2025

Antidepressants is the tenth studio album by English rock band Suede, released on 5 September 2025 through BMG and produced by Ed Buller. Preceded by three singles and a live version of the title track, Antidepressants has been described as a post-punk and gothic rock album with themes such as mortality and modern disconnection. It is intended to be the second in a trilogy of "black and white" albums, starting with Autofiction (2022).

Contents

Background and recording

After the release of their 2022 album Autofiction , frontman Brett Anderson told the NME that the band was already in the process of writing their next album, saying "The next record that we're planning to write, and have already started, is much more experimental." [1] In Mojo magazine, he said that before Autofiction was released, the band had initially intended for its follow-up to take an artier approach: a ballet soundtrack. However, upon the album's warm reception, the project was shelved with two of its tracks ("Between an Atom and a Star" and "Life Is Endless, Life Is a Moment") repurposed for Antidepressants. [2] In June 2024, before a performance at the Isle of Wight Festival, Anderson and bassist Mat Osman sat down for an interview with Ben Burrell for Absolute Radio, where the former revealed that the band was recording the album. [3] In a press release, he said that "If Autofiction was our punk record, Antidepressants is our post-punk record." Produced by Suede's longstanding producer Ed Buller, it was recorded between ICP Studios in Brussels, RAK and Sleeper Sounds Studios in London, and RMV Studio in Stockholm. [4]

Title and artwork

The album previously had the working title Broken Music for Broken People, which, like Antidepressants, is the name of a track. [2] Anderson had also considered Suppression but decided against it, believing that it was too dark. [5] The front cover alludes to a 1962 Vogue photograph taken by John Deakin of the artist Francis Bacon in which he posed shirtless between two slabs of meat; the photo of Bacon is in turn a reference to his painting Figure with Meat . [6]

Style and themes

Antidepressants has been described in reviews as post-punk, [7] [8] [9] and gothic rock. [10] Like its predecessor, it took a guitar-led approach, with guitarist Richard Oakes at one point elaborating how the stylistic backdrop for Autofiction allowed him draw upon early influences such as Keith Levene (PiL), John McGeoch (Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees), the Fall, and Wire. [2] The album's gothic influence is largely noticeable on tracks like the closer "Life Is Endless, Life Is a Moment", cited in Louder Than War for its "tribal drums, spooky low bass line, chiming guitars and ethereal keys". [11] Inspired by contemporary bands' incorporation of spoken word vocals in their music, such as Dry Cleaning, Shame, and Yard Act, Anderson implemented this approach for Autofiction's "Personality Disorder", [12] and on Antidepressants, he leans more heavily into this style. [13] As is often the case throughout Suede's career, the album occasionally shifts to a ballad, [5] notably on the aforementioned ballet project leftovers "Somewhere Between an Atom and Star" and "Life Is Endless...". [6]

There's certainly a sense of memento mori about the record. People might see it as morbid and macabre, but it's actually life-affirming: the reminder of death makes you aware of how precious life is. It's about the joy within a moment when you realise that life is fleeting and you have to live it to the full.

Brett Anderson, Uncut [10]

Antidepressants explores themes such as paranoia, [10] [14] death, [7] [9] and human disconnection in the modern age. [5] [8] While the overall result is dark, both in tone and in subject matter, [8] the lyrics often employ a more optimistic perspective. "Dancing with the Europeans" is a celebration of the connections that people do have in an otherwise disconnected world, [7] and on "Broken Music for Broken People", seen as reminiscent of Suede's 1996 song "Trash", [5] [13] it suggests that music offers the socially disenfranchised a means to connect. [15] Interspersed throughout are a series of disembodied voices, introducing the album with the message "connected – disconnected". [14]

Promotion and singles

Suede performing at Alexandra Palace, July 2024. Suede at Ally Pally.jpg
Suede performing at Alexandra Palace, July 2024.

During the Isle of Wight Festival performance, Suede debuted a track from the forthcoming album, entitled "Antidepressants". [3] On 12 May 2025, the band released a video of a separate live performance of the song from July 2024 at Alexandra Palace, London. [10] [16] One week later, Suede revealed the lead single, "Disintegrate", with a black and white music video directed by Chris Turner. The single was also accompanied with details of the album, including the title, artwork, release date, and track listing. [17] After releasing their second single "Trance State" on 11 June, [4] Suede premiered "Dancing with the Europeans" on 28 July with another video by Turner, [18] filmed during a gig at Bush Hall, London. [19] It was inspired by a separate gig in Spain that helped to bring Anderson out of a depressive state. [5]

In promotion for Antidepressants, the September 2025 issue of the UK magazine Mojo features the band on one of two alternate front covers, the other being Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys; the issue includes a 15-track covermount CD of Suede material with the title Outsiders: Live. Rare. Unreleased. 1990–2025, containing the aforementioned performance of "Antidepressants" at Alexandra Palace, a demo of "Disintegrate", and the album track "Criminal Ways". [20] [21] On 26 August 2025, just ten days before its release, Suede performed the album in full at the Clore Ballroom in Southbank Centre, London, where they are scheduled to return in September for a week-long residency dubbed Suede Takeover. During the concert, Anderson shared that the band intends for Antidepressants to be the second part in a trilogy of "black and white" albums including Autofiction, with the third part to be released later in the decade. [22]

Release

Antidepressants was released on 5 September 2025 through BMG. [11] [17] In addition to standard physical formats (CD, vinyl, and cassette), a deluxe CD containing three bonus tracks was made available and packaged in a "Hessian slip case". [23]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.7/10 [24]
Metacritic 92/100 [25]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash 8/10 [7]
Classic Pop Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [13]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [26]
The Line of Best Fit 9/10 [8]
Louder Than War Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [14]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Spill MagazineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [27]
Uncut 8/10 [10]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Antidepressants received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 from 9 critic scores. [25] AnyDecentMusic?, another aggregator, gave it an average rating of 8.7 out of 10 from a sample of 9 critical reviews. [24]

In a five star review for Mojo magazine, Victoria Segal called Antidepressants a "defiant, death-defying record – as much joyride as memento mori", saying Brett Anderson's voice "cuts through sharper and stranger than ever". [9] In Record Collector , Shawn Curran said that "Improbably, they've pulled off the rarest of feats: a middle-aged rock band who remain interesting and invigorated, going from strength to strength", singling out Richard Oakes as "the album's essential component". [5] Stephen Troussé of Uncut deemed it their "most unhinged, intoxicating Suede album since Coming Up , and boasts the best first side of a goth album since the Banshees' Juju : a surging wave of desolation that miraculously keeps growing ever grander"; while Troussé was more reserved with praise for the second half of the album, feeling that—with the exception of "Broken Music for Broken People" and "June Rain"—"the second side can't quite maintain that pace", they ultimately rated it 8 out of 10. [10] In The Line of Best Fit , Matt Young said it "feels less like a late-career coda and far more like a daring new beginning", concluding that "Antidepressants is not about memory, it's real life now, trembling in its own imperfection. Not necessarily healing, it's just honest. And sometimes, that's what we need most." [8] Emma Harrison, writing for Clash magazine, called it "subversive ... confrontational, unfiltered and arguably one of their most electrifying releases to date." [7]

Comparing it to its predecessor in a review for Classic Pop magazine, John Earls said that "Few bands 30 years in are capable of making an album as current as Autofiction. Fewer still are able to maintain the pace and follow it with another LP if anything even more aligned to current thrills." The sole exception Earls took was to "Somewhere Between an Atom and a Star", criticising the "more traditional" track for sounding "more mild ones than 'Wild Ones'." [13] In Louder Than War , Wayne Carey thought that "This next chapter is the group going from strength to strength when you can't see them getting any better. ... Does it do what Autofiction did? I say so and I guarantee this will be on your playlist for the rest of the year." [11] Claire Biddles of The Quietus praised the album for continuing to capture the feeling of "dynamism" they get from Suede's live performances. She analogised the band's trajectory to the transition from their debut Suede (1993) to Dog Man Star (1994): "If Autofiction was the first entry in a new triptych, considering the same themes at a more mature stage of life, then Antidepressants is a fine middle panel: a warp of the formula that is considered and progressive, if not as immediately thrilling." [6]

In light of the highly publicised reunions for Oasis and Pulp, both peers of the band during the Britpop era, Ben Hogwood of MusicOMH lauded Suede for their willingless to look forward and address modern concerns: "While most of their peers trade off former glories, ... [they] have rolled up their sleeves to fix 21st century life in their unblinking stare." Hogwood finished the five star review by saying that "Antidepressants is a musical tour de force from a band at the very height of their powers." [14] Dave Simpson similarly expressed that "Antidepressants is no throwback. It's thoroughly postmodern", adding in a four star review that they believe it is the band's best album since they reunited. According to Simpson, "Great 10th albums by any artist are rare jewels indeed, but this is a late career triumph." [26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brett Anderson, Richard Oakes, and Neil Codling, except where noted. [28]

Antidepressants track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Disintegrate"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
3:41
2."Dancing with the Europeans"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
3:44
3."Antidepressants" 3:26
4."Sweet Kid" 2:59
5."The Sound and the Summer" 3:42
6."Somewhere Between an Atom and a Star" 2:50
7."Broken Music for Broken People"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
3:11
8."Criminal Ways"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
2:27
9."Trance State" 4:23
10."June Rain"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
3:57
11."Life Is Endless, Life Is a Moment"
  • Anderson
  • Codling
5:07
Total length:39:27
Deluxe CD bonus tracks [23]
No.TitleLength
12."Dirty Looks"2:56
13."Sharpening Knives"3:37
14."Overload"2:54
Total length:48:54
Japanese CD bonus track[ citation needed ]
No.TitleLength
12."Medication" 

Personnel

Credits adapted from Apple Music. [29]

Suede

Technical

References

  1. Trendell, Andrew (21 September 2022). "Suede: 'I'd love to think that our most daring work is ahead of us'". NME . Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Suede New Album Exclusive: 'We can get arty, but it always snaps back to being a rock band.'". Mojo . 15 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  3. 1 2 Colothan, Scott (24 June 2024). "Exclusive: Suede talk 'noisy, unhinged and raw' tenth studio album". Absolute Radio . Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 Redfern, Mark (11 June 2025). "Suede Share New Song 'Trance State'". Under the Radar . Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Curran, Shawn (8 August 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". Record Collector . No. 574 (September 2025). London: Diamond Publishing Ltd. pp. 100–101. ISSN   0261-250X.
  6. 1 2 3 Biddles, Claire (4 September 2025). "See It, Say It, Sorted: Antidepressants by Suede". The Quietus . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Harrison, Emma (4 September 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". Clash . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Young, Matt (2 September 2025). "Antidepressants sees Suede defiant in our disconnected age". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Segal, Victoria (12 August 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". Mojo . No. 383 (October 2025). London: H Bauer Publishing. p. 80. ISSN   1351-0193 . Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Troussé, Stephen (15 August 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". Uncut . No. 343 (October 2025). Yalding, Kent, England: Kelsey Media. pp. 22–23. ISSN   1368-0722.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Carey, Wayne (2 September 2025). "Suede: Antidepressants – Review – ALBUM OF THE WEEK 2!". Louder Than War . Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  12. Earls, John (16 September 2022). "Brett Anderson on Suede's new album, reissues... and his unreleased novel". SuperDeluxeEdition. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Earls, John (14 August 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". Classic Pop . No. 96 (September 2025). Anthem Publishing. p. 80. ISSN   2050-6643.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Hogwood, Ben (5 September 2025). "Suede – Antidepressants". MusicOMH . Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  15. Robinson, Martin (5 September 2025). "Suede: Antidepressants review — an electrifying, life-saving record". The Standard . Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  16. Turner, Luke (12 May 2025). "Suede Unveil New Song: Live version of 'Antidepressants' online now". The Quietus . Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  17. 1 2 Stoddard, Cait (19 May 2025). "(The London) Suede Announce New Album Antidepressants For September 2025 Release, Share New Single & Video 'Disintegrate'". mxdwn.com. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  18. Redfern, Mark (28 July 2025). "Suede Share Video for New Song 'Dancing With the Europeans'". Under the Radar . Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  19. Trendell, Andrew (28 July 2025). "Suede take us behind the scenes of new single 'Dancing With The Europeans': 'It's about connecting in a disconnected world'". NME . Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  20. "MOJO 382 – September 2025: Brian Wilson / Suede". Mojo . 10 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  21. "Outsiders: Live. Rare. Unreleased. 1990–2025". Mojo . No. 382 (September 2025). London: H Bauer Publishing. 15 July 2025. pp. 6–7. ISSN   1351-0193.
  22. Lewis, John (27 August 2025). "Suede live at the Southbank Centre review: a band embracing the future". Uncut . Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  23. 1 2 Sinclair, Paul (19 May 2025). "Suede / Antidepressants". SuperDeluxeEdition. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  24. 1 2 "Suede – Antidepressants". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  25. 1 2 "Antidepressants by The London Suede". Metacritic . Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  26. 1 2 Simpson, Dave (5 September 2025). "Suede: Antidepressants review – edgy post-punk proves reunited Britpoppers remain on the up". The Guardian . Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  27. Mastel, Joseph (5 September 2025). "Spill Album Review: Suede – Antidepressants". Spill Magazine. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  28. "Antidepressants – The London Suede". Qobuz . Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  29. "Antidepressants – Album by Suede". Apple Music . Retrieved 5 September 2025.