Brett Anderson is racing around Europe. To present his latest album, Slow Attack, that I love and described as ‘introspective chamber music‘. But, wow, his Antwerp show (at Trix) was not a slow attack, given the power, the fierceness, the electricity. A true hold-up on all of our senses.
Brett (and terrific band) started off with complete re-inventions of some slower songs, giving them a furious Suede jacket while keeping the personal intensity of the lyrics. Overflown in feedback, hyperkinetic guitar plucks, melodic bass and powerful (yet female) piano cuts. Noise. Hot. Rock.
Still, the heavier approach fluently and easily transited into fractions of (solo) stillness. Moments of complete (!) silence. Complementing voices. Emotional tension. With or without band. A heartbreaking crooner. The new Brett that we have come to appreciate so much. Although he swayed and moved like in his early Suede days.
What a pleasure! The grin on his face. The determination to conquer. Close contact with the audience. A confident artist in top shape. All of his incarnations in one concert. There are few to compete him.
This is the music that takes me to a different place. With the wild ones.
