— Tom Doyle
It had only been a year since being made aware of them and it seemed like they were already coming undone. 'Suede Have Split' claimed one headline in either The Guardian or The Times (I can't recall which and can't locate any evidence online). Pop coverage in the Fleet St press was then minimal and not to be taken seriously but the NME reported much the same. The Smiths broke up far too early but at least they had a good four year run of recording and touring behind them; Suede were only just getting started and it was already over.
Yet reports of their break-up were about a decade premature. When the smoke cleared, guitarist and co-songsmith Bernard Butler had departed and the remaining core of Brett Anderson, Matt Osman and Simon Gilbert went about looking for a replacement. Filling Butler's shoes proved so daunting that they ended up adding two new members, guitarist Richard Oakes and keyboardist Neil Codling. This new five-piece Suede ended up being a far more consistent line-up and it has remained since their reformation in 2012. The shadow of the gifted Butler was difficult to escape but they managed to do so.
(It's interesting how when a vocalist-lead guitarist bust up occurs, the remaining band members tend to side with the supposedly egomaniacal singer over the "humble" and dedicated musician. For a brief time at least Morrissey managed to take fellow Smiths Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon with him for his solo career while Liam Gallagher managed much the same when he and brother Noel parted ways during the implosion of Oasis. The Stone Roses and The Verve are said to have contemplated a guitarist swap. There is a definite downside to having a perfectionist musician barking orders at supposedly lesser players while the financial benefits of remaining loyal to a charismatic singer must also be considered)
Coming a few months' prior to his shock departure, it's tempting to think of "Stay Together" as an attempt on the part of Brett Anderson to make an appeal to his disgruntled bandmate. The signs that Butler wasn't long for Suede had been there for some time. There's also the title which contrasts sharply with the likes of "The Drowners", "New Generation" and "Beautiful Ones": "Stay Together" is a command rather than a paean to the sort of doomed romanticism Anderson clearly cherished. Cheap drugs, crummy towns that manage to be just out of the reach of London, bad sex in uncomfortable locales: these are the topics Anderson mined to death over the nineties, not a plea for a couple to remain.
Nevertheless, the song's narrative of couple remaining holed up in the midst of a Ballard-esque nuclear winter could only have come from Suede (unless, of course, J.G. Ballard had ever got round to recording an album). Plus, there's evidence that Butler was not especially enamoured by Anderson's lyrics. Incidentally, not thinking much of "Stay Together" is something to the pair shared — and I join them.
We've all had growers in our lives. Records that we immediately wrote off as flimsy and feeble that we eventually came round to. Similarly, there are those tracks we barely notice until they reveal themselves. (I'll never forget the time I was listening to the Chic compilation The Definitive Groove Collection when it dawn on me what a magnificent tour de force the instrumental "Savoir Faire" is) But what about 'shrinkers', songs that might impress us right out of the gate only to let us down big time on subsequent listens? As opposed to Blur, Suede were not at their best when doing slower numbers. "The Wild Ones", a lesser placing chart hit from the end of 1994 from their overrated second album Dog Man Star, has a stateliness about it that "Stay Forever" lacks and even it isn't quite in their top tier of material. Suede always did good singles even when their albums weren't up to much but this one is disappointingly hook-free and surprisingly unmemorable.
While Suede have could easily broken up in the summer of '94, it was fortunate that they didn't. The quintet iteration of what North Americans annoyingly called 'The London Suede' has produced a respectable discography with passable albums and some stellar singles. Bernard Butler moved into a Johnny Marr-esque role as a sessioner to the stars and his brief but fruitful pairing with singer David McAlmont resulted in "Yes" and "You Do", 45's which rival anything his former band ever managed at their best. Everyone was better off following his departure. Not to mention "Stay Together" would've been a lame way to go out.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Cypress Hill: "Insane in the Brain"
I don't know, Brett Anderson's overwrought profundity is all well and good but why choose to listen to one of his lesser works when you could dance around the room or just chill out to the fun and festive raps of Cypress Hill? And I say this as someone who isn't much of a hip hop fan. I'm sure that it sounds great high on the same northern lights cannabis indica that they no doubt enjoyed but part of being a kid who was shielded away from such stuff was imaging what it must have been like, even if I had no idea what it was like. A good drug song ought to convey the feeling to those who aren't so lucky/are so fortunate to be on the shit themselves and "Insane in the Brain" is one of the finest examples. There's no message to take away and no gimmicks, just hip hop to enjoy whether you're baked to the Moon or not.
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