Suede
A New Morning

THE REVIEW

"A New Morning" is the final chapter (excluding the best of "Singles") of Suede, released in 2002.

There's a novelty on the keyboards: the talented Neil Codling (among other things, co-author of old hits like "She's In Fashion" and "Can't Get Enough", as well as the sole author of "Elephant Man", a track contained in "Head Music" from 1999) is replaced by Alex Lee, ex-Strangelove (who also participated as a guitarist in the live shows of Placebo during 2006-2007).

"A New Morning" is the successor to "Head Music", but it has little to nothing in common with its predecessor. In the new work, Suede tries to further develop the acoustic aspect of their musical style; the choice to change producer should be interpreted in this sense, entrusting the experienced hands of Stephen Street (assisted by John Leckie and David Eringa).

"Positivity" is the first single from the album (Codling is also credited for this track) and it effectively heralds the shift of the band. The acoustic attitude of the song is immediately noticeable, while Anderson abandons his typical "nasal" singing style to favor the expressive depth of a more "throaty" execution, especially in the upper parts. Several tracks on the album follow this path, notably "Lonely Girls" and "Lost In TV", besides the masterpiece of the album, the monumental "Astrogirl", in which Brett delivers a stunning vocal performance, enriched by a celestial falsetto in the refrain.

Fans of the hardcore base, on the other hand, can find refuge in electric numbers like the second single "Obsessions", "Beautiful Loser" (the closest to the "Coming Up sound" of the entire work), the wild "Streetlife" (perhaps the closest to the Stones that Suede has ever done), and the more rhythmic "You Belong To Me". A negative note is the production of an (unusually) non-impactful Street; simplifying and smoothing the sound is fine, but here it might have been overdone, depriving the pieces of the classic "exaggerated" appeal that made Suede's songs rich with various and unexpected nuances. Real boredom, however, appears only a few times, perhaps in "Untitled... Morning" (due to excessive length) and in the ghost track "Ocean".

"A New Morning" thus represents a worthy conclusion for Suede. It is not a masterpiece, but it is certainly an album that still has some arrows in its quiver.

Key tracks: Positivity,  Lonely Girls, Astrogirl, You Belong To Me (bonus track)