Suede’s 25th anniversary tour last spring reminded fans that the band has long challenged a generation while maintaining a confessional line to the audience that travels from album to album. Autofiction, released by BMG, presents the thoughts of an almost 55-year-old Brett Anderson, who has shed some melancholy and embraced sharper guitars. Marketed as a punk-inflected record, the album also reveals textures that are more nuanced. Autofiction stands apart from its predecessor, The Blue Hour (2018). Rather than grand orchestrations, the band leans into leaner riffs and more intimate post-punk textures, especially as the tracks move toward the second half. While songs race with energy, such as the opener that follows the single bearing the band’s signature, the record never returns to easy roots. Instead, it builds a powerful melodic climate that confronts old ghosts as Anderson looks inward and confronts a personal history from his mother’s death in 1989, an event that kept her from attending the funeral. The line about the hidden feelings reflects how adolescence has shaped his adulthood, and how those early wounds continue to influence the present. The defining moment arrives with The Only Way I Could Love You, delivering razor-edged melodrama, while The Grumpy Boy on stage brings sinister guitar lines and piercing falsetto.
power of pop
The live-recorded feel of Autofiction brings a new darkness that takes hold gradually, beginning with Personality Disorder, where Anderson channels melodic gifts into theatrical thunder, echoing the band’s raw impulse. The track becomes a manifesto of sonic bite and mood, with guitars and a bass line nodding to post-punk forebears. As the program unfolds, gothic rock cues surface, recalling early experiments by bands such as Killing Joke and The Cure. Critical tracks like Black Ice present life as a perilous journey, framed by obscure riffs and synth textures that shift from quiet to eruptive. The closing stretch solidifies the album’s dramatic arc, marrying a soaring chorus with dense guitars in a way that feels both intimate and expansive.
The artistic choice to fuse dramatic storytelling with a clear fondness for pop hooks marks Autofiction as more than a collection of songs. It becomes a statement about how pop music can stay vital as tastes shift, aging with the listener while continuing to surprise. Suede’s approach—bold, unafraid, and emotionally direct—positions Autofiction as a serious work that demonstrates the enduring power of pop to evolve with a lifetime.