Suede have shared a new single, ‘Trance State’, the second track to be unveiled from their upcoming tenth studio album Antidepressants, due out on 5th September via BMG.
Powered by angular basslines and icy guitars, ‘Trance State’ channels the tightly wound intensity that’s defined Suede’s recent live shows. Lyrically, Brett Anderson touches on self-delusion and psychological vulnerability. “When you fall apart, there’s such an honesty and a truth to that,” he says. “You’re revealing your real self… You’re not able to present a facade to the world anymore. It’s just you.”
The track debuted on Jo Whiley’s Radio 2 show and follows Antidepressants’ lead single ‘Disintegrate’, described by The Telegraph as “a tantalising first taste” of the album and praised by Clash as “a barbed return”.
While 2022’s Autofiction found Suede tearing into punk-inspired territory, Anderson calls Antidepressants their “post-punk record”. He describes it as “broken music for broken people”, with themes of paranoia, anxiety and fractured connection running through the lyrics. “We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world,” he says. “This was the feel I wanted the songs to have.”
The new album arrives in multiple formats, including CD, coloured vinyl, cassette and a deluxe box set. It’s the latest milestone in a career that saw fresh momentum with Autofiction, the band’s highest-charting album in more than two decades.
In September, Suede will mark the album’s release with a four-night residency at London’s Southbank Centre, titled Suede Takeover. Each show promises a different format. Two Royal Festival Hall performances on the 13th and 14th will feature new material, old favourites, and surprises. On the 17th, the band will strip things back for an off-mic set in the Purcell Room. The series concludes on the 19th with their first ever full orchestral show, collaborating with Paraorchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Reflecting on the upcoming shows, Anderson says: “Expect old songs, new songs, borrowed songs, blue songs, drama, melody, noise, sweat and a couple of surprises.”
All four dates are sold out.
