Review Summary: "Two different colours, but we stand up as one..."
Approaching The Tears’ debut (and only) album, “Here Come the Tears”, as a listener in 2015 is far different that approaching that album as a listener when it was released ten years earlier. Both audiences may have hindsight knowledge of the high-profile fall out between guitarist Bernard Butler and vocalist Brett Anderson at the apex of Suede’s career. However, only today’s audience knows that their anticipated reunion would prove to be short-lived, with Butler retiring from performing and Anderson eventually reuniting with Suede after a botched solo career. What a shame, for if they had stuck it out they could have produced something extraordinary, or at the very least something far better than what “Here Come the Tears” has to offer.
Lead single “Refugees” kicks off the album, establishing the tone and structure to expect right off the bat. Bernard Butler throws out some memorable melodies made of major chords, Brett Anderson spins his tales of love and relationships, the rhythm section does their best to keep out of the spotlight while remaining interesting, and this repeats for the majority of the record, whether it is performed in pop rock form or ballad form. They’ll throw a curveball every now and then – such as “Brave New Century”, which decides to start commenting on the state of the world and immigration while managing to rip off “We Are the Pigs” in every conceivable fashion – but The Tears are fairly predictable.
The predictability starts to wear thin as the album plays on, but there are some fine tracks amongst the filler. The aforementioned “Refugees” gets in, leaves a wonderful first impression and gets out quickly; being the shortest track on the record helps matters, as the ideas never outstay their welcome. “Lovers” also manages a light poppy feel, and despite no major changes in the melody remains fun to listen to as it goes on. “Co-Star” on the other hand, cripples itself with some strange stuttering effects on the drums, as the chord progression and “verse, chorus, verse” structure makes four minutes feel longer than it should – a recurring problem that plagues the album’s 52 minute length.
Despite the skepticism about whether or not his waning voice could support the tracks, Brett Anderson does a fantastic job as the singer. He shows the required restraint for ballads such as “Apollo 13” and has a decent enough range to support the ominous mood of “Brave New Century” .The problem lies in his lyrics, which cover the topic of being in love with varying degrees of awkwardness in the lyrics. When Brett sings “Your teeth are not quite straight/Your mood swings oscillate/Your language is appalling/And you play with my hair in the morning” on “Imperfection”, it’s hard not to shake my head.
Bernard Butler is just as in shape as he was on Suede’s 1993 self-titled debut, and whether or not that means he’s stagnated as a musician, he’s still fascinating to listen to. His turns on “Beautiful Pain” and “Apollo 13” are captivating and winding, and he always manages to find a way to complement Anderson’s vocal runs. If there is one complaint about his songwriting, it’s that he tends to re-use a lot of keys. In some cases he almost rips off the other songs on the record, in the case of “Fallen Idol”, which begins almost exactly like “Refugees” before saving itself with a few different chords.
Despite a few niggling issues, Here Come the Tears succeeds at making a record that fans of the early Suede records can enjoy, as well as other fans of the Britpop scene. By no means is it a classic, but it definitely proves that Anderson and Butler work better when they stand as one, rather than standing as enemies.
