Album review: Suede, Bloodsports (Warner Music Group)

Though no masterpiece, Suede's Bloodsports is a decent piece of work that stays true to the band's aesthetic while boosting its sound to arena size.

It's just a pity that, as comebacks go, it can't help but seem like a little rowing boat tossed around in the wake of the mighty SS Bowie. Timing, as ever, is everything. But Brett Anderson still has that fallen-angel cadence, dashing off lines like “I fall to the floor like my strings are cut” with insouciant charm; and Richard Oakes' guitar riffs hoist songs such as “Sabotage” to another level, his arpeggios like a street-punk swagger-stalking back alleys.

Producer Ed Buller has given the band a bigger sound that works well on the rolling U2-esque riff to “Barriers”, but parts of the album still sag under expectations

Download: Barriers; It Starts and Ends with You; For the Strangers