In 2013, Suede’s tired reunion album Bloodsports suggested their return would be brief. Not a bit of it.
Night Thoughts is a sorely needed step forwards for a band who never quite reached galactico level.
On the cascading Night Thoughts and the gloriously overwrought I Don’t Know How To Reach You, they sound like giants who understand the difference between portentous and pretentious, while there’s real fizz to Like Kids, especially when it breaks down into a cheerily yobbish children’s choir.
Alas, they’re not stodge-free and too often on an album which feels longer than its 47 minutes, the band sound empty, while singer Brett Anderson still sounds eerily like Laughing-Gnome-era David Bowie, not least when he’s trying to pull heartstrings on I Can’t Give Her What She Wants.
(Warner Bros)