A New Morning (Remastered) [Deluxe Edition]

Oh, if the sun would only set on Suede again. The band came into the world over a decade ago as a purely nocturnal entity, seething with the dark tension of a savage hatred between the two main songwriters, and their music reflected this harrowing, if turgid melodrama. Brett Anderson seemed to be living the sleazy rock lifestyle he sang about without ever glamorizing it: Suede's first two albums brim with violence, paranoia, sexuality and sinister energy.

Then guitarist and co-songwriter Bernard Butler left the band, a couple of kids joined up to fill his shoes, and everything changed. That it took two people to replace Butler is indication of what a force he was in the band; after his departure, Suede began to sound decidedly less dangerous, and almost overbearingly glib. Suddenly, Anderson's lyrics struck not so much like those of a man living the seedy clubbing lifestyle as a man who'd read about it in Vogue. And Suede have never since returned to the shadows whence they came.

I've accepted this reality. As much as I love those first two Suede records, I'm not one to begrudge a band the right to change. Besides, the band's most recent material can be infectious, if not particularly meaningful-- I've even thought lightweight singles like "The Beautiful Ones" and "Electricity" oddly pleasing at times, and found the band's last attempt at sonic broadening, 1999's Head Music, fairly promising. So you can imagine my disappointment to find that A New Morning backs away from even that.

Thankfully, producer John Leckie has kept the low end from that prior album intact, avoiding a return to the tinny sound of Coming Up, which now strikes as seriously dated. The bass throb rears itself most effectively on the more charged songs, like leadoff single "Obsessions" and the chunky rocker "Streetlife". "Obsessions", with its harmonica refrain courtesy of new keyboardist Alex Lee, sounds curiously similar to The The circa 1993. Not that you'd ever mistake Brett Anderson for Matt Johnson.

And speaking of Anderson, his voice has suffered the ravages of an entire Connecticut Valley tobacco field worth of cigarettes over the past ten years, and it's begun to show here and there. He's not exactly croaking as per Tom Waits-- not yet, anyway-- but his smooth croon of old is certainly beginning to sound more lived-in. He's still an impressive and distinctive vocalist, though, and aside from the sandpaper wear-and-tear, he's in good form for most of A New Morning.

Unfortunately, he's also still a distinctive lyricist, as well, and by that I mean distinctively awful. Since Coming Up, he's struggled to widen his vocabulary beyond "concrete," "gasoline," and "It's the way you ________," and he continues to tread water here. On "Lonely Girls", he skirts substantive examination of his subjects, instead opting to rattle off a series of brief anecdotes about each one's condition (sample: "Maxine mixes alcohol with polythene and paint"). And in fact, he's actually written this song before, except then it was about men, and it was called "The Bentswood Boys." (This being a family website, we won't even discuss the horrors of "Astral Girl.")

It's difficult to overcome consistently lame, often meaningless lyrics-- especially with Suede's classic rock focus on singer and melody-- but they cope. Bassist Matt Osman is always good for a snappy hook and a tight countermelody, while guitarist Richard Oakes-- but a wee teen when he joined Suede eight years ago-- continues to improve, absorbing everything from 70s glam-rock to George Harrison and spinning it back with aplomb. He's also pulling out the acoustic more often these days, which helps the band to overcome the sometimes overly synthetic quality of their last two albums.

Where you stand on A New Morning hinges largely on where you already stand on Suede's other recent releases. If you're strictly old-school, waiting for them to produce another Dog Man Star, don't bother, and while you're at it, stop waiting-- this band is obviously not interested in revisiting their past. If, however, you loved the bounce of Coming Up, you'll likely be pleased with this offering, and particularly if you thought Head Music was a letdown. As for me, I'm getting a bit bored with Suede's perpetual morning. Is a little darkness too much to ask?