THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Autofiction is The London Suede’s ninth studio LP, and sees the band deciding to go back to basics. “Autofiction is our punk record,” frontman Brett Anderson says. “No whistles and bells. Just the five of us in a room with all the glitches and fuck-ups revealed; the band themselves exposed in all their primal mess.”
Writing the songs that would become Autofiction, Anderson, Mat Osman, Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling schlepped to a rehearsal studio in deserted Kings Cross to collect a key, hump their own gear, set up and start playing. Later recording live at Konk studios in North London, The London Suede teamed with long-time collaborator Ed Buller. Ed first worked with the band producing their debut single The Drowners, which celeberates its 30th anniversary this year.
If The Drowners was a rattling anthem for the blurred sexuality and vivacity of unusual youth 30 years ago, Autofiction’s grappling with concerns of a different point in life sound no less vital. “Autofiction has a natural freshness, it’s where we want to be,” says Anderson.
And where The London Suede want to be is, in a way, the same place as they were when they began 30 years ago — a group of people living off the raw sensation of creating music together in a room. “When we were rehearsing and writing this record it was this sheer, physical rush. That thing where you’re hanging on for dear life,” says Osman.
First single She Still Leads Me On is the track that reconfigured what the album could be. A beautiful song written from Brett to his late mother. As its title suggests, Autofiction is one of Anderson’s most personal records yet. Reflecting on the process of writing acclaimed works of memoir Coal Black Mornings and Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn helped Brett get a newfound perspective on himself as a performer and singer in the public eye, much of which has bled into the lyricism of Autofiction.
As well wanting to write a reaction to 2018’s U.K. Top 5-charting album The Blue Hour that was every bit as sharp as the jump from the grandiose Dog Man Star to Coming Up, after two acclaimed documentaries (Mike Christie’s The Insatiable Ones and Rock Family Trees), along with approaching the 30th anniversary reissue of The Drowners, Autofiction is The London Suede looking forward as they enter the fourth phase of their existence.”
