Back in the early ’90s, Suede helped ignite the Britpop movement, standing out with Brett Anderson’s androgynous swagger and a sound equal parts glam, grit, and melancholy. While contemporaries like Oasis chased stadium anthems, Suede carved a darker, more literary path—blending romance with urban decay. After lineup changes, a breakup in the 2000s, and a triumphant reunion in 2010, the band has proven not just resilient but restless. Far from nostalgia, Suede continue to evolve, refusing to rest on past glories.
With Antidepressants, their tenth studio album released on September 5, 2025, the London legends dive deeper into the nocturnal universe they began charting with 2022’s Autofiction. Produced again by longtime collaborator Ed Buller, this record stands as the provocative middle chapter of their “black and white” trilogy—and it feels like the most unflinching Suede album in years.
A Sound Drenched in Shadow
Musically, Antidepressants is rooted in post-punk and gothic rock: jagged guitars, reverberating basslines, and production that balances sharp edges with cavernous space. Where Autofiction flirted with raw immediacy, this album expands into something darker and more cinematic.
Richard Oakes’ guitar work cuts through with angular urgency, often recalling Joy Division or early Wire, but always stamped with Suede’s melodic signature. The rhythm section locks in tightly, giving propulsion and weight, while the production leans into stark contrasts—moments of delicate fragility colliding with walls of sound.
Themes of Mortality and Disconnection
Thematically, Antidepressants confronts the paradox of living in an age where chemical remedies exist for despair, yet human isolation only deepens.
Brett Anderson has described the album as “about defying suppression and becoming human again.” He frames the record as an exploration of how people “survive through art” and how “music itself can be a kind of antidepressant.”
Speaking to The Guardian, Anderson admitted that mortality weighed heavily on the writing: “I’m 57 years old. I’m not going to be around forever, and that creeps into the lyrics. But instead of wallowing in death, I wanted to celebrate life’s fleeting moments.”
Anderson’s voice remains the gravitational core. Still supple, urgent, and unmistakably human, it carries both vulnerability and defiance. Unlike many veteran singers, he doesn’t try to mask age; instead, he embraces it, letting the cracks and rough edges deepen the emotional impact.
New record is about defying suppression and becoming human again, says Suede’s Brett Anderson
Track-by-Track Impressions
- Disintegrate – A visceral opener steeped in decay and rebirth—an urgent mission statement that sets the tone for what follows.
- Dancing With the Europeans – Pulsing with connection in a disconnected world, this single brims with kinetic energy and cathartic tension.
- Antidepressants – The title track distills the album’s existential core—medicating to find meaning in modern life; music as both therapy and resistance.
- Sweet Kid – A tender, emotionally resonant tribute to Anderson’s son. “It’s about watching him grow up and realizing that my time is finite,” Anderson explained.
- The Sound and the Summer – Anthemic and charged, injecting melodic defiance into the album’s otherwise shadowy mood.
- Somewhere Between an Atom and a Star – A sweeping, cinematic ballad—echoing Bowie-like grandeur and emotional crescendo.
- Broken Music for Broken People – Once the album’s working title, this anthem champions the battered and disenfranchised—suggesting redemption through shared pain and art.
- Criminal Ways – A raw, punk-tinged cut—concrete imagery and rough edges give it grit and tension.
- Trance State – Laid-back yet unsettling, its lyrical nods to medication (“blame it on the mirtazapine”) turn introspection into slow-burning intrigue.
- June Rain – A dramatic and elegiac ballad—closing with haunting lines like “I close my eyes and walk into the traffic flow.” One of the album’s emotional peaks.
- Life Is Endless, Life Is a Moment – A theatrical closer—grand, reflective, and perfectly fitting as the emotional denouement.
Why Antidepressants Matters
In a cultural moment obsessed with immediacy, Antidepressants insists on patience. It’s an album that demands full immersion—headphones, solitude, attention. Suede aren’t chasing charts; they’re pursuing truth.
As Anderson put it: “We’re an anti-nostalgia band. I’d rather fail doing something new than succeed repeating ourselves.”
For longtime fans, this is a reminder that Suede remain essential—not as a legacy act, but as artists still taking risks. For new listeners, it’s an invitation into a world where music doesn’t just entertain, but confronts, heals, and lingers long after the final note fades.
Editor’s Note – Where to Start with Suede
If you’re new to Suede and Antidepressants is your first exposure, here are two essential entry points to explore their legacy:
- Dog Man Star (1994): The band’s dark, sprawling masterpiece. Dramatic, romantic, and full of gothic grandeur—it’s Suede at their most ambitious.
- Autofiction (2022): Their recent raw, stripped-back reinvention. Punk energy collides with middle-aged reflection, setting the stage for Antidepressants.
Together with the new record, these albums show Suede’s range—from decadent romanticism to urgent modernity.