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Brett Anderson

Crash About to Happen

(Self-released; US: 27 Nov 2011; UK: 27 Nov 2011)

Between the omnipresent, stark somberness, the title track’s chorus-drenched lead guitar line, and the reappropriation of a Joy Division title for the b-side “Isolation”, the new Brett Anderson digital single is drenched in early ‘80s post-punk signifiers.  However, once you hear the Suede frontman interject his quivering croon into the proceedings, it’s impossible to mistake this record for the work of anyone else.  No matter that the post-punk revival peaked years ago, “Crash About to Happen” and its companions warrant attention for being exemplars of tuneful verse/chorus pop songcraft.  With this latest single from his solo LP Black Rainbows, it’s quite satisfying to find that Anderson has not only come to grips with how to make more subdued offerings tight and non-ponderous (something that eluded Suede for ages), but that he’s serving latter-day material to rival his band’s acclaimed early output.

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Hailing from California, AJ Ramirez graduated with a BA in English in 2006, and then spent two years working as co-music director at freeform college radio station KDVS 90.3 FM. Since 2010 he has been editor of PopMatters' Sound Affects music blog. He's most at home scouring libraries for band biographies and reading old print music articles archived online.


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Related Articles
4 Oct 2011
Iconic Suedehead's tenth record proves there's life in the old Dog Man Star yet.
15 Jul 2011
In the '90s, many were bigger, but few were better than Suede at their best, led by the dynamic duo of "glamly androgynous Dickensian whippet" Brett Anderson and "Danger High Voltage" whirlwind guitarist Bernard Butler. Just don't call 'em Britpop.
1 Dec 2010
Removed from the overexcited hyperbole that heralded its arrival on the music scene, the band that kick-started the Britpop movement in the 1990s presents a new best-of compliation that does in fact compile its choice material while also indulging in its excesses.
8 Dec 2009
Anderson himself says it best: "It wasn't easy to make, and it probably isn't easy to listen to."
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