B A Songs (label)
15 August 2011 (released)
22 August 2011
After a successful Suede reunion, things are certainly looking up for Brett Anderson and importantly the state of British music. Since their comeback in late 2010, guitar music has been a top priority for record labels. The emergence of the somewhat successful Vaccines and the ridiculous Britpop-parody that is Viva Brother being the most notable examples. With a new solo album due soon and a Suede album in the pipeline, ‘Brittle Heart’ duly confirms the statement - Brett Anderson will never lose his finesse for song-writing.
Chiming bells and lingering rhythm guitar are a highlight of the track, complementing Brett’s graceful vocals. Whilst his voice has somewhat mellowed and matured he comes across as well as ever. “Give me your brittle heart and your ashtray eyes”, Brett yearns, his lyrics once again evocative and poetic. And it gets better – the song is a tastefully written ballad that thrives on building up suspense gradually. This ultimately leads to an outro, which would make even the most mediocre song worthwhile.
Brett Anderson’s solo work will instantly be compared with Suede’s most iconic work when measuring quality. With this in mind ‘Brittle Heart’ is certainly no ‘The Asphalt World’. It is however equally as elegant and documents how Brett’s song-writing has developed so gracefully over the past 20 years.
Reviewer: Oliver Mower
