His first record, the era-defining ‘Suede’, became the soundtrack to a new generation,  a generation disaffected by much of the music and culture around it, and one hungry for the visceral thrills intrinsic in the best timeless pop. They found it in Suede who  would come to be the group who informed not only their vast audience but the whole of the music industry, creating a seismic shift away from the domination of American rock music in the UK.
 
From then on, Brett Anderson would display an intelligence and sense of artistry which would single him and his group out from the herds who followed. A tellingly dramatic  shift in personnel on the eve of their brilliantly grandiose second album ‘Dog Man Star’ threatened to derail them  but they returned with a new vigour and focus and became even more successful than ever. For a while they were imperious, ruling the charts and the music press with a sense of experimentation and style which was completely their own.

In 2006, he released his debut solo album, the intensely personal  “Brett Anderson”, which captured an artist at a turning point in his life. Of course the gorgeous melodies were still there but this time they were coupled to lyrics which showed an artist coming to terms with huge life changes and new experiences. This was an altogether different artist from the one who had so adroitly captured various other lives through a looking glass in his earlier work.  The focus was moving inwards.
 
And now comes “Wilderness”, the most haunting record you will hear all year. Detailing a love affair, the record displays all the heightened emotions of love and  thus is  joyous,  bleak, euphoric, and reflective –  and very beautiful. It’s a record that is intense and stands outside of the mainstream and is all the better for it. Like all classic albums, its an album Brett Anderson had to make at this point in his life.
 
“Wilderness” is the most captivating album you will hear all year.