Here Come the Tears

For two albums, Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler seemed as if they could grow to become the Morrissey & Marr of the 90s – Suede's self-titled debut and its follow-up, Dog Man Star, are still among the best records of Britpop. But only few rock & roll breakups have been as plain nasty as Bernard Butler leaving Suede during the final stages of recording their second album in 1994. The guitarist departed abruptly, leaving co-songwriter and vocalist Brett Anderson, to finish the epic sophomore effort. Now think of an unlikely event. Osama Bin Laden and George Bush shaking hands on the lawn of the White House? A couple of years ago, the reunion of Anderson and Butler would have ranked up there with impossible dreams. But by the end of 2002, while Suede were still dead, both men were free to pursue new projects – or revive old alliances as the case may be, – since Anderson and Butler buried the hatchet in 2004 and formed a new band, The Tears, releasing its debut album, Here Come the Tears, in the summer of 2005.

There are several songs here that could easily join Refugees as potential singles. Lovers, Autograph and Beautiful Pain are all instantly likeable gems, enlivening by some awe-inspiring guitar work from Butler and given an epic scope by other band members Will Foster, Nathan Fisher and Makoto Sakamoto. Anderson also sounds reinvigorated, with his voice sounding stronger than it has done for years. Lyrically, Anderson has improved as well. Whereas one time it was possible to play a drinking game based on how many times Brett mentioned ‘nuclear', ‘asphalt', and ‘moonlit sky', now he's moved onto more substantial topics. There's even political comment in the stunning Brave New Century. There's also the touching Imperfection, a tribute to a lover's flaws, and Co-Star, which could really be the album's signature tune ("when we're together, the world smiles"). The more Here Come the Tears is listened to, the more impressive it reveals itself to be. The closing two tracks, Apollo 13 and A Love As Strong As Death almost match Dog Man Star's The Asphalt World/Still Life double whammy, the former being a particularly breathtaking piece of work.

All of these songs have familiar antecedents in the Suede catalog, but they don't feel recycled: they feel like a continuation of the duo's best work. Here Come the Tears could easily pass as the natural follow up to Dog Man Star. It feels like a diarised reflection of their darkest hours amidst the tunnel of hatred and the ensuing flicker of light on the other side. Anderson and Butler have made an album that suggests their collective merits far outweigh their individual musings. One question. If you're the members of Suede and you sound like Suede, why not call yourself Suede? Instead we have The Tears who nicely answer the question "what if Bernard had stayed?" For Here Come the Tears sounds like the best album that Suede never made, full of romantic, smoldering pop songs with a soaring depth to them. The creative tension that made the first two Suede albums so good is obviously still there in spades.