London Suede released their ninth studio album Autofiction today. To celebrate, The London Suede began a series of Autofiction launch shows last night with a high-energy performance at Pryzm in Kingston Upon Thames for Banquet Records, and will perform live tonight at Rough Trade East in Shoreditch.
The new album, which features BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 playlist mainstays ‘She Still Leads Me On’ and ’15 Again’, is already to critical acclaim. Autofiction has been hailed as “their best album in decades” by Uncut, “superb” by The Times, “vital” by DIY Magazine and “wildly addictive” by Classic Pop. MOJO praised Autofiction “so moving, punk ferocity protecting a deeply vulnerable core”, Record Collector defended the “revitalization” while NME confirmed, “this is a band with a lust for life.
London Suede’s goal was to create an album that captured the unique power and energy that exists between the band and their live audience. A theme that resonates since the day they announced Autofiction, debuting the daring opener “She Still Leads Me On” live on stage in a surprise performance in Brussels that was streamed live for the fans.
Following Autofiction’s launch shows over the coming week in November, The London Suede will return to America for the first time since 2011 for an anticipated co-headline tour with Manic Street Preachers.
London Suede’s return to the live scene continues with a UK tour through March 2023, performing classics, hits and Autofiction tunes. The tour begins at Bath’s Forum on March 3 and ends at the O2 Academy Brixton on March 25, 30 years after The London Suede made their iconic London debut in May 1993.
Earlier this month, The London Suede performed under the guise of Crushed Kid – an idea which saw the band take the “back to basics” nature of Autofiction to the extreme by performing live under a fake name. After sparking rumors after a week of mysterious activity online, including the release of new music as Crushed Kid, Crushed Kid made their debut at London’s 300-capacity MOTH Club, followed by a set at the Deaf Institute in Manchester.
Fans were treated to a surprise preview of The London Suede’s ninth studio album in full. No encore, no greatest hits. The set saw Telegraph champion The London Suede “a band reborn” while the Evening Standard confirmed, “like all the best new bands, Crushed Kid left us wanting more”, The Guardian hailed “a euphoric comeback”, and CLASH announced the set as a “relentless exposition of The London Suede’s position in 2022”.
The London Suede recently released a companion track to the new album with their first short film production, Autofiction: A Short Film. Directed by Katie Lambert (MrMr Films) and created in collaboration with The London Suede, the production has been described as “essential and immediate” by AnOther Magazine, and explores the complexities of memory, perceived truth, communication and anxiety. in human relationships. Themes at the heart of The London Suede’s new album, which, as its title suggests, is one of Brett Anderson’s most personal records to date.
“Autofiction has a natural freshness to it, it’s where we want to be,” Anderson says. And where The London Suede wants to be is kind of the same place they were when they started 30 years ago – a group of people living off the raw feeling of creating music together in one room .
In a move reminiscent of their most formative years, the songwriting process saw The London Suede become like a new band again – dragging their own gear into a Kings Cross rehearsal space, picking up a key, settling in and starting to to play. Later, recording live at Konk Studios in North London, The London Suede teamed up with longtime collaborator Ed Buller. Ed first worked with the band to produce their debut single ‘The Drowners’, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
The London Suede will be playing Autofiction on a series of very special shows through September and October 2022. It’s a rare chance to see the band live in some of the most intimate venues across the UK and Europe – including including two nights at the Electric Ballroom in London which sold out in twenty seconds. In-store gigs and signing appearances in UK record stores over the next week are also detailed below.
Listen to the new single here:
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
November 3, 2022, Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
November 5, 2022, Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theater
November 7, 2022, San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
November 09, 2022, Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues Anaheim
November 10, 2022, Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
November 13, 2022, Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits at the Moody Theater
November 16, 2022, Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater
November 18, 2022, Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
November 19, 2022, Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
November 21, 2022, Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theater
November 22, 2022, Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater
November 24, 2022, Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
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