Suede at work on new album: "It'll be anarcho-punk. The '90s? Every band hated each other". Watch the Mercury Prize performance

Suede are already at work on their eleventh album, set to complete the trilogy that began with “Autofiction” in 2022 and continued with “Antidepressants” in 2025. Having explored their punk and post-punk roots, the British band led by Brett Anderson now seems set on pushing toward even more direct, combative sounds, to the point of provisionally describing the new project as an “anarcho-punk” record. The band themselves revealed as much in an interview with Andrew Trendell for “NME”, during the 2026 Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle, where “Antidepressants” was among the nominees for the prestigious award, eventually won by Raye.

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For Suede, it was a return to an event that holds particular significance in their history. Back in 1993, the band had won the Mercury Prize with their self-titled debut album. Memories of that evening, however, are rather hazy. “We didn't think we'd win, and we knew that if we did, we wouldn't have to perform. So we started celebrating pretty early,” recalled bassist Mat Osman. Brett Anderson, for his part, mainly remembers being booed by the crowd: “I thought it was brilliant. I quite like a bit of antagonism. In the early ’90s every band hated each other, and I found that entertaining.”
The occasion also gave Anderson a chance to reflect on the value of the album as a complete artistic statement. “Making albums is probably my greatest obsession,” he explained. “I've always loved listening to other people's records as complete works. I like putting an album on and following its whole journey: the first side, the opening song, the middle section, the seventh track, which is hugely important, the penultimate song and the closer.” According to the British singer, a great album has to transport the listener into a recognisable universe, the way Unknown Pleasures” by Joy Division, “Music For Airports” by Brian Eno or “Never Mind The Bollocks” by the Sex Pistols do. “Making an album is a truly extraordinary art form, probably the greatest art form of the twentieth century.” It's a philosophy that continues to guide Suede's new project too. Guitarist Neil Codling confirmed that the writing process is already well underway and that the band hopes to get into the studio soon. “It seems to be heading in the same direction as the last two records, but maybe even more anthemic. We're trying to write simple, direct songs with a strong anthemic streak.”

Anderson explained that the record will mark the closing chapter of a trilogy built around different takes on punk aesthetics. “The first one, 'Autofiction', I called our punk record. The second, 'Antidepressants', our post-punk record. The third will be our... something-punk record,” he joked, before offering up the term “anarcho-punk”. “When we started writing it, there really was something anarcho-punk about it, though I'm not sure yet if that'll be the final word on it.” As for the lyrics, the frontman hinted at one of the main themes: “There are a lot of songs about tribes and belonging.”

Fans might get a taste of the album sooner than expected. Suede have hinted that one or two unreleased tracks could make it into the setlist for their upcoming UK tour alongside the Manic Street Preachers, kicking off on 28 October at Glasgow's OVO Arena. The relationship between the two bands dates back to the '90s and has remained a close one. “We've known them since about 1994, and we've always had a brilliant time playing together,” said Anderson. “It's an interesting pairing, because we're similar, but not too similar.” No rivalry here, then: as drummer Simon Gilbert put it, touring together is “like going on holiday with mates”.

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