Suede – Dancing with the Europeans Review

The sound Suede is now chasing is a welcome revival of punk roots, which were never truly explored. Even latest Antidepressants single, Dancing with the Europeans, for all its softer, art-rock tones, has an energy to it which can be found in the most thrilling of punk scenes. Suede hit a natural end to their sound on The Blue Hour and did extremely well to develop into a new band, a group which could maintain the hits of their heyday with the extremely satisfying, borderline career-best works of Autofiction. They sound comfortable chasing the Autofiction feelings once more, the punk-adjacent tone is what the band are guided by now. Europe offers Suede a lot, especially when it comes to engaging with some of the band’s lesser-known works. Few in the UK would react as wildly to She’s in Fashion as the Bergen crowd back in 2023.  

Dancing with the Europeans is destined to head into niche territory, too. A solid single and another vibrant, energetic punch from the Brett Anderson-fronted group, but a step off the gas compared to preceding songs Trance State and Disintegration. The latter track encapsulated the punk spirit of the band, which the group were hoping to do going forward. Dancing with the Europeans feels more like an Autofiction leftover than an Antidepressants highlight. But that is no problem. Suede’s 2022 effort shaped up to be one of their very best, and more of that is welcome. It’ll not fade into obscurity, the very purpose of releasing it as a single prohibits that, but it is not the staggering, redefining moment the band had previously offered on Disintegration and Trance State. Even then, Dancing with the Europeans has much to love. It has the consistent, darker formation that Suede has become known for in recent years. A lot of moving parts, which are narrowly avoiding one another, never quite crashing into the core of the song.  

Anderson may note the artificiality of aspects of life, but he never quite defines it well enough to carry Dancing with the Europeans. A perfectly fine third single, a call not to arms but to legs, which you should kick and carry across the sweat-soaked floors of some energised dance floor. It has all the makings of a familiar, welcome live favourite, though it sounds a little bereft of life in the studio. Through that medium, through the jerk of a leg or the thrust of an arm, is connection. Suede wants so desperately to connect with their audience on Dancing with the Europeans, they lose sight of what makes the intimacy of audience and artist work so well: a natural flow. It is what most of their other songs have, so why not this one? 

Because to tackle the subject which is danced around with nuance elsewhere is to get a little too close to the sun. As sweet an idea as it is, the principle Dancing with the Europeans is built around implies nobody else is worried about the disconnect in an always-connected world. It is a contrast which has amounted to decades’ worth of work being written, produced, and released. Suede throw themselves into this wholeheartedly, and that is the difference maker. They sincerely believe in what they say, which is more than can be said for other artists closer to the peak of the charts. Dancing with the Europeans is how Anderson recalls a cathartic experience, and the band follows suit, as they so often do, with some quality instrumental work. Suede has never struggled to inspire passion from their listener, and this latest single is no exception, despite one or two minor hang-ups which threaten to overshadow the clinical, ever-present instrumental flourishes.