Autofiction (album)

Autofiction is the ninth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede. The album was released on 16 September 2022 via BMG to critical acclaim. It was their first release in four years, following 2018's The Blue Hour and their first since Night Thoughts in 2016 to feature longtime producer Ed Buller. The album was created as a stylistic distinction from their previous reunion work, which had taken on a more orchestral and cinematic scope.

Background
In November 2020 it was announced that Suede were in the process of recording a ninth studio album. During an interview on the anniversary of Coming Up, lead singer Brett Anderson described the new album's sound as "nasty, brutish and short". Eighteen months after the initial announcement, on 23 May 2022, it was announced that the title of the new album was Autofiction and that it would be released via BGM on 16 September the same year. Alongside this, the title of the album's lead single was revealed to be "She Still Leads Me On". The track, inspired by Anderson's late mother, debuted later that night at a concert in Brussels and was live-streamed to fans via the band's YouTube channel. The album's creation followed the release of Anderson's memoirs, Coal Black Mornings in 2018 and Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn the following year. This informed the lyrics and themes of the album, leading it to have an autobiographical focus. On the title "Autofiction", Anderson stated "Autofiction is a genre that’s part memoir, part fiction, to a certain extent, you’re manipulating the truth. No art is 100pc truth. Even a memoir in which a writer thinks he’s just delivering the nuts and bolts of his life is still making decisions about what they leave out and what they decide to include. At the other end of the spectrum, The Lord of the Rings is the ultimate fantasy book, with its wizards and goblins, but it still contains human truths."

Recording
The album was intended to be recorded live in small venues with the band performing under the assumed name “Crushed Kid” in order to bring the band's live sound for the record. However, these plans were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The album was primarily recorded in London at Air Studios, Konk, Sarm Music Village and Toneville, with additional recording done at RMV Studios, Stockholm, and Studio28, Bangkok. The album was recorded and mixed with a live sound in mind, featuring few overdubs and additional musicians in an attempt to replicate a live performance.

Release and promotion
Brett Anderson stated that: "Every record is a reaction to the last record to some extent. You don’t want to just keep going in the same direction. I wanted to come back and make something that felt a little bit more raw, a little bit more angry, a little bit more nasty. 'Autofiction' is our punk record, and we're fucking proud of it."

Autofiction was released 16 September 2022 and charted at No.2 on the UK Albums Chart, with sales of 14,038. The band thus secured their ninth Top 10 album and highest-charting release since 1999's Head Music.

In November 2022 'The Only Way I Can Love You' was added to BBC Radio 2's playlist and 'Personality Disorder' to the Radio 6 playlist.

On 8 November 2023 Suede announced 'Autofiction: Expanded', a 3-disc CD box-set. Disc 1 contains the studio album, disc 2 contains 6 b-sides and bonus tracks, including previously unreleased 'There Is No Me If There Is No You', and disc 3 contains the full Autofiction tracklisting recorded live across the band's sold out March 2023 UK tour. This re-issue was released on 8 December 2023.

Critical reception
Autofiction received positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "Universal acclaim".

Among the positive reviewers was Bella Savignano for Clash. In the article, Savignano called the album "simultaneously forward-looking and nostalgic. It pays homage to the callow naivety of the young band they once were in its thrashing form and gritty sentiment, but with the sonic maturation and profound lyricism of a group who has paid their dues. Though the days of the jangly, innocuous Britpop they were so integral to establishing are gone, Suede haven’t lost their roots – they’ve just re-established them for a new era." Similarly, Phil Mongredien from The Guardian claimed, "there’s barely a misstep in Autofiction’s 45-minute running time," and that it was "A late-career triumph." Victoria Segal also complimented the album in the review for Mojo, stating that "Autofiction builds its own emotional momentum as Suede, once again, write new chapters of their story."

In the review for NME, Andrew Tendell wrote that the album, "finds the indie greats getting back in the garage to make a racket. This is a band with a lust for life." In Record Collector, Kevin Harley stated that it was, "An album that taps into Suede’s galvanic guitar-rock drama without falling prey to that dread declaration of stagnation, the back-to-basics album. Perhaps deceptively, Suede’s approach here is forward-thinking." Concluding the review for AllMusic, editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the band's performance; "The last time Suede sounded this muscular and urgent they were still in the process of discovering themselves. Here, the quintet know how to deploy not just their strengths but their distinctive blend of nervy post-punk, overheated glam, and yearning poetry to make an album that sounds full, complete, and utterly alive."

Track listing
Autofiction Expanded

Personnel
Suede
 * Brett Anderson – vocals
 * Richard Oakes – guitars
 * Simon Gilbert – drums
 * Mat Osman – electric bass
 * Neil Codling – synthesizers, piano

Technical
 * Ed Buller – production
 * Alan Moulder – mixing
 * Neil Codling – additional production
 * Caesar Edmunds – additional production and mixing

Additional musicians
 * Meredith Moore – French horn
 * Oli Langford – violins and viola
 * Amy Langley – cello