Here Come the Tears [Import]

There is a rumour stated in John Harris' excellent account of the fall and rise of Britpop 'The Last Party' that somewhere between the 4th and 5th Suede album Bernard Butler offered to write songs for Anderson & co. 'Here Come the Tears' feels very like that - produced by Butler, with the musicians Butler has played with since the 1990s, and with the symphonic-pop he's made as a solo-artist and in collaboration with David McAlmont and Neneh Cherry. This might be a good thing, as Suede post-Butler had issues - 'Coming Up' was fine pop (the 'Rio' of Britpop?), but 'Head Music' was patchy stuff, drifting between Soft Cell-electropop and a band who sounded like a bad imitation of themselves. The final Suede LP was long in the making and involved the ditching of multiple songs, as it was reported in the press as a return to the sound of 'Suede' and 'Dog Man Star'...which is all a shame as Anderson & Butler's early work on those first two Suede albums and the related singles (see the first disc of 'Sci Fi Lullabies') ranks as some of the greatest music of the 1990s.

Butler is probably in a better place - recording an album proper with former Thieves-singer David McAlmont (they had previously recorded the singles 'Yes' and 'You Do' prior a split)and banishing the flop of second album 'Friends and Lovers.' 'Here Come the Tears' (the title apparently nods to Brian Eno's 'Here Come the Warm Jets') came at the right time, and conformed to Butler's symphonic, Spectoresque pop that has been his stock-in-trade since exiting shortly before 'Dog Man Star' was released.

I don't agree with the enthuasistic reviews here - 'Here Come The Tears' is OK, has the odd great moment (notably initial single 'Refugees')but certainly doesn't meet the standard of Anderson & Butler's prior collaboration. Perhaps this is unfair, it might be true that its unfair to compare The Tears to their prior work - but it's there.

I can't understand why this album didn't do well - there's lots of the kind of anthemic MOR-indie style that is popular these days - Coldplay, Keane, Embrace, Morrissey, that kind of thing. Which doesn't mean its bad, but a bit tame for my taste - then again, having rediscovered 'Dog Man Star' a few years ago, I'm unlikely to be as enamoured with this set? Maybe these songs were too obvious, too radio-friendly and too hit sounding? - trying too hard to flog their wares?

Still, it's all pretty listenable and would sound fine sitting round a flat while you're in love, buying shoes, or as dinner party background music. There's nothing as adventerous or as wild as 'Stay Together', 'The Wild Ones', 'Whipsnade', 'High Rising', 'Sleeping Pills', 'My Insatiable One', or 'She's Not Dead.' Unfair to say maybe, but there isn't. 'Here Come the Tears' is the best album Anderson has been involved with since 'Coming Up' - though the best songs here are more akin to Suede's 'Obsessions' than their earlier work. Perhaps if we lived in a singles culture, The Tears could have broke Anderson & Butler back in with a single or two, an e.p. or a mini-LP?

I hope the relative commercial and critical failure of 'Here Come the Tears' doesn't mean the end of their reunion - like the Go-Betweens, it might take an album or two to deliver a classic. 'Here Come the Tears' is better than the last two Morrissey albums, certainly shows promise - whether it's Butler's feedback on 'The Ghost of You' (reminded me a little of 'Daddy's Speeding'), the jangly joy that is 'Autograph' (The Smiths comparison is more than valid), or the catchiness of the two singles 'Refugees' and 'Lovers.' The last track suffers from having a title far too similar to The The's 'Love is Stronger Than Death'. Still, all is well when Brett mentions streets on the first track and offers an animal reference a track or two later! More please and better!

In a market flooded with releases, The Tears, are in significant danger of falling into the Just Another Album category. The long anticipated reunion of the estranged Bernard Butler and the fallen Brett Anderson turns out to be a bit of a damp squib.

Nobody would give a toss if it wasn't for the fact that this pair wrote "Suede" and "Dog Man Star" and heralded the rise of Suede in their glory years. Whilst The Tears definitely want to be seen as a new band, without this history they would sink without trace. And probably undeservedly.

Reuniting with an estranged partner after a ten year absence doesn't always yield results. Like getting back with an excellent but tempestous sex, it's a relationship that smacks of desperation. If it wasn't so bloody good.

Mostly, "Here Comes The Tears" sound like a Bernard Butler solo record with an ace singer. There's nothing new, no new ideas of any innovation, but a stream of clasic songs. Whilst there's a couple of duffers ("Autograph" and "Asylum" leap out as no marks in these high waters), most songs match the windswept vistas of hopeful lovers with Spectoresque strings and Anderson's sometimes wonderful lyrics to create something that sounds, on paper, a bit ropey, but in the flesh, knocks the pretenders to the throne back to the dark ages where they belong.

"Refugees", a Bernard solo number with a new singer, is possibly the best single song Brett has sung in almost a decade. "The Lovers" is a similarly epic bedsit drama with meaningless/meaningful couplets of such ambiguity that it could be about throwing food, or the best love song of all time. However with lines such as "your language is appalling/you play with my hair in the morning" Brett really needs to spend more time with a thesaurus. It's obvious that the youthful follies of their previous work has long been spent and matured into something altogether more potent, but less thrilling.

There's nothing wrong with these songs, and many of them are worthy of standing up to the best of their early work, but the excitement and exurberance of "Animal Nitrate" or "New Generation" is long gone, tempered by age and guile, into a new template, a new way of living that appeals more to the mind and the soul than the heart and the feet. "Here Comes The Tears" is ample evidence that they may yet become the equal of their previous band, but only time and talent can tell. A promising start to a brand new century

with dross like coldplay and james blunt dominating the charts,
this brilliant album has been ignored which is a shame.suede were an amazing band and when brett and bernard announced they had made up and were forming a new band i was ecstatic.their songwriting history carries such a lot of baggage that to try and top dog man star and their 1993 debut would be a tough job.
with here come the tears they do it so effortlessly.standout tracks are the stunning ballads ghost of you and appollo 13,while refugees and lovers have the swagger that made suede so exciting all those years ago.if there's only one fault is it all sounds so polished that it doesn't capture the thrill of seeing them live( if you ever get the chance do so,bernard's the best guitarist i've ever seen).let's hope we get another album from them as i'm sure it will be a classic.