“Do I want you because you’re out of reach?” Brett Anderson muses on Like Kids, halfway through Suede’s ambitious seventh album. He could be addressing the other partner in a floundering relationship, or something nameless floating at the fringes of his consciousness. Yearning and anxiety hover over the record – a concept album that begins with a suicide and plays out as the drowning man’s life flashes before his eyes. Night Thoughts is literally cinematic – it was written to accompany a film – but is also a standalone art-rock piece that adds another dimension to Suede’s universe. When You Are Young, the string-filled opener, is heavy with nostalgia and alienation, with Anderson offering one of the most florid performances of his life. The songs are sequenced without pauses, but the reward for listening all the way through is classic Suede pop moments such as No Tomorrow and What I’m Trying to Tell You and the creeping sadness of I Can’t Give Her What She Wants. Night Thoughts is another victory for the misfits.
