Suede – Dog Man Star Review

Anniversary pieces feel a little light when the project can still stand on its initial merit. Dog Man Star has only evolved with good faith over its thirty years. It is a finest hour moment for Suede, a band who are continuing to deliver such highs with their contemporary work. Why look back when the present is so good? Because it is a reminder of where Suede was, and a chance to dive into the depths Dog Man Star provided all those years ago. After their seismic debut, the only way Suede could go was up. And that they did. They roared through with this follow-up work, a masterclass peppered with some of their very best tracks and most out-there pieces. A blur of experimental efforts and experiences learned from their self-titled debut. Bold is the word thrown around Dog Man Star. It still applies. A gothic sense of kicking against the pop culture of the time.  

And it still applies. From the tremendous Introducing The Band and the instrumental spirit it conjures to the necessary brilliance of follow-up, We Are The Pigs, there is a continuation of the strong plans laid out by the debut. Brett Anderson in his finest vocal hour. A high he would reach later in his career with Autofiction, tonally and lyrically similar, all things considered. Seeing the band live with performances of We Are the Pigs or The Asphalt World and heading back into the album after a few years of not listening to it is a wild experience. An instrumental depth not quite gauged on those first listens booms to the surface. Everything from the sharp fundamentals put in place by Mat Osman throughout Dog Man Star to the steady and often incredible showmanship of Bernard Butler. He shines through with his additional instrumentals, a rich experience for every track.  

Dog Man Star still serves the band some of their all-time best tracks. From the glam rock swagger of Heroine to the frank yet opportune tenderness of Daddy’s Speeding, it all comes together in a perfect blend of passion and power. Anderson maintains a scintillating vocal range throughout Dog Man Star, a sincere rush of steady tempo and higher octaves unreachable by most. Thirty years on and they sound as good as they do here, naturally with a different reflection on his vocal range now – but there is credit to be handed to Suede’s frontman for realising this switch not as a necessity but as an opportunity for reinvention. Mesmerising work from Anderson is possible through the instrumental joys heard throughout.  

It elevates the likes of The Power, still standing strong and with that titular strength still unfolding. Flutters of life beyond their means on This Hollywood Life still maintain a distance between the band and the hills of rolling celebrity status. Rightly so. It is a distance beneficial to the band, for it means they are still as grounded and weighty as they were when Dog Man Star first released but it also proves the sentiment of the album true. They are not a band easily swayed by influences or figures of power. There is a pertinent sense to Dog Man Star still. It holds the firmness of an album moved by timeless experiences, with The 2 Of Us still deploying the heartbreaks learned from the first album. It is this continuation, this defiant sonic difference, which comes across with great strength. It lasts on thirty years and will continue as strongly the next three decades.