Head Music
Encyclopedia
Head Music is the fourth album by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...

, released by Nude Records
Nude Records
Nude Records was a London based record label, set up in 1992 by Saul Galpern who had previously been involved in the success of artists such as Simply Red, the Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and The Au Pairs. The label's first success was with Suede. Suede's debut album was the fastest...

 in May 1999.

Produced and mixed by Steve Osborne
Steve Osborne
Steve Osborne is a multi-platinum selling British record producer. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, such as New Order, Doves, U2 and KT Tunstall. During the 1990s, Osborne was half of the Perfecto Records team, a production and remix collaboration with Paul Oakenfold; the artists...

, Head Music features a more electronic sound, which was a new approach to their music. The recording of Head Music was plagued with difficulties such as singer Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson
Brett Lewis Anderson is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he briefly fronted The Tears, and has released four solo albums...

's addiction to crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

, and keyboardist Neil Codling
Neil Codling
Neil John Codling is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the alternative rock band Suede.-Early life:...

's recurring Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome is the most common name used to designate a significantly debilitating medical disorder or group of disorders generally defined by persistent fatigue accompanied by other specific symptoms for a minimum of six months, not due to ongoing exertion, not substantially...

. Despite these events the album still went to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, however it received more promotion than any of their previous releases. The album received mixed-to-positive reviews, however there were more negative reviews on Head Music than any of their previous records.

Background and recording

After the release of the B-sides
B-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...

 compilation Sci-Fi Lullabies
Sci-Fi Lullabies
Sci-Fi Lullabies is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of B-sides from the singles that were released from the band's first three albums.-Overview:...

, Suede decided to put themselves out of the limelight for over a year. Neil Codling spent most of the year in bed due to his illness and at the same time Anderson's increasing drug habits were becoming a cause for concern. Anderson began to associate himself with people outwith the band, who Mat Osman
Mat Osman
Mat Osman is an English musician, best known as the bassist in the band Suede. He studied at the London School of Economics, where in 1989 he was awarded a BSc in Economics....

, seemed to dislike. "More than anything there started to be a whole load of people he was associating with who I just couldn't stand. They had nothing to do with the band, nothing to do with anything but drugs. They were drug buddies."

Suede decided to move on from Ed Buller
Ed Buller
Ed Buller is a British record producer and former musician. He primarily works with Australian and British bands like Suede, Pulp, The Raincoats....

 as their producer. After demoing 15 songs with three different producers, wanting to go in a more produced, electronic-sounding direction, the group chose Steve Osborne to produce the album. According to Anderson, Head Music was Suede's most experimental album, and Osborne's role played into the group's experimentation, "Steve was responsible for a hell of a lot of this album's sound. We chose him first of all because he did this fucking brilliant job on 'Savoir Faire'... It just sounded really exciting and unusual." Osborne's involvement sparked rumours of Suede going in a dancier direction, which the band strongly denied. Osman said, "It's not dancey at all. It's certainly groovier and there's a lot of tracks that are just one or two chords. There's certainly a lot more tracks that work on the level of a groove than we've done before, but that's it."

Osborne was initially hired for one week of trial-run recording at Mayfair Studios, just to see how the process was going to work, or indeed if the two parties could work together.
Suede's biographer David Barnett remembers the day when they did a test-run of "Savoir Faire" with Osborne at the trial sessions. He recalls being offered a crack pipe by two of Anderson's friends. "Naively assuming it to be a hash pipe, I took them up on the offer and was surprised to experience a sensation akin to inhaling several bottles of poppers at the same time. This was my first and last personal encounter with crack." Anderson was addicted to the drug for two and a half years, but stopped in late 1999 when somebody very close to him became ill. He has been clean since.

Head Music was recorded between August 1998 and February 1999, several studios were used including, Eastcote, Sarm Hook End, Master Rock and Eden Studios. For guitarist Richard Oakes
Richard Oakes (guitarist)
Richard Oakes is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the guitarist and occasional pianist and backing vocalist of the English band, Suede.-Early life:...

, the rehearsals for Head Music were unpleasant. With Anderson's wayward behaviour showing no signs of draining, Oakes began to drink more to make rehearsing more endurable. "I remember for quite a few of them, having to make sure that I was semi drunk just in order to turn up." Oakes also found his contributions being regularly knocked back in favour of Anderson and Codling's electronic experiments. Anderson felt that because of his spiralling drug use, and Codling's illness, Oakes became isolated from the group further and that the only people who were still together were Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. At one point relationships became so strained that Anderson demanded future member Alex Lee
Alex Lee
Alex Lee is an English musician. Lee is a multi-instrumentalist who has played guitar and keyboards for Goldfrapp, Strangelove, Suede, Placebo and The Blue Aeroplanes amongst others...

 to be summoned to the studio presumably because no one else was willing to turn up.

The album is notable for being the first Suede album to have a title track. "Head Music" was one of Anderson's personal offerings, which Nude
Nude Records
Nude Records was a London based record label, set up in 1992 by Saul Galpern who had previously been involved in the success of artists such as Simply Red, the Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and The Au Pairs. The label's first success was with Suede. Suede's debut album was the fastest...

's Saul Galpern insisted should not go on the album. Osborne actually refused to record it, instead they got Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...

 to do a version, however they disliked it. Osborne eventually relented, but was not so flexible when it came Codling's next offering. "Elephant Man", which is the only song on a Suede album not written or co-written by Anderson. It was recorded, mixed and engineered by Bruce Lampcov. Codling contributed a greater amount of material to Head Music than he had on Suede's previous album, receiving writing credits on six songs. Anderson has said the album was influenced by Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...

, Audioweb
Audioweb
Audioweb were a rock/reggae/electronica band based in Manchester, England. They formed in 1991, originally as The Sugar Merchants.-Personnel:*Martin "Sugar" Merchant *Sean McCann *Robin File *Robert "Maxi" Maxfield -Career:...

, Tricky
Tricky
Tricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...

, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Release and reception

There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Head Music, with numerous tv appearances including, CD:UK
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...

, The O-Zone
The O-Zone
The O-Zone was a weekly music magazine show broadcast on BBC Two from 1989-2000. Originally presented by Andy Crane until 1990 and originally only shown during school holidays and Sunday mornings during the winter months on CBBC...

, Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

, The Pepsi Chart Show
Pepsi Chart (UK)
The Pepsi Chart was a networked Sunday afternoon Top 40 countdown on UK radio that started life on 1st August 1993 with Neil 'Doctor' Fox hosting the show live from the Capital Radio studios in London...

 and TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...

. Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

 featured Suede in an 18 page special in May of that year chronicling the band's ten year history, with the sub header "Brett Anderson on a decade of decadence and debauchery". Virgin Megastores across the UK were re-branded, changing its name to "Head Music" the day the album was released. Commercially the album was a moderate success, and had mixed-to-positive reviews from both fans and critics alike. It was the third album by the group to chart at number one in the U.K.

Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

 placed the album at no. 1 in its "Best Albums of 1999" list. The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 gave it a seven, however criticised Anderson's lyrics saying that "Brett Anderson had nothing new to say." They did, on the other hand call it "hair-raising pop" and that they were "striking out for new pastures." Andy Gill of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

, who harshly criticised Coming Up, gave the record a very positive review. He felt that the album was "broader in musical conception than their previous albums." He also felt that Osborne's influence was critical, saying he "naturally brings a more groove-oriented approach to the band's sound, which is slicker and smoother than before, and better reflects the band's 'chemical generation' outlook."

Reviews in the U.S. were mixed. Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

 called it a "sad, strangely lackluster epitaph." He added, "even the strongest track on Head Music, 'Everything Will Flow
Everything Will Flow
"Everything Will Flow" is the third single off the album Head Music by Suede, released on 6 September 1999 on Nude Records. The opening synth line sounds very similar to that of the previous single, "She's in Fashion," but the song progresses into a jumpy ballad. It's the first single of the band's...

', is a cheap echo of vibrant early work." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

 felt the album was their least consistent, saying: "The end result may be the least consistent album in a career marked by consistency, but it's still remarkable and well-represented by the grandiose pop of "Electricity," "She's in Fashion
She's in Fashion
"She's in Fashion" is the second single from the album Head Music by Suede, released on 21 June 1999 on Nude Records. Peaking at number thirteen on the UK singles chart, "She's In Fashion" features a swirling synth line that helps build the song into a dreamy uptempo track, quite unlike anything...

," and "He's Gone," which do sound like proper Suede songs. Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

 gave it 7 out of 10, Barry Walters wrote that "...Suede and Steve Osborne achieve a hard precision that brings back the brutality of early Suede while lending a complex sheen to simplistic material. Head Music has sold about 26,000 copies in the U.S. as of 2008 according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...

 figures.

Some critics saw Head Music as a major step forward from previous album Coming Up. Christina Rees of the Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...

 wrote: "If Suede couldn't erase the influence of Oakes' predecessor, Bernard Butler, on 1996's Coming Up, it has certainly succeeded now..." She also added, "If the "new" Suede didn't show up on Coming Up, it seethes through Head Music." Similarly an ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 article wrote: "Head Music fills in the gaps of Coming Up and succeeds in being the best record the band has made since its debut, finally laying Bernard Butler's looming ghost to rest.

Fans and critics commented on Anderson's repetitive lyrics and lack of lyrical themes, in particular "Savoir Faire", which received attention and criticism. In 2002, Anderson admitted that he was "a smack addict for ages". Many critics linked the album's lack of creativity to Anderson's increasing drug use, mainly crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

 and heroin. Nick Duerden of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

 felt that Head Music was blighted by his descent into addiction, calling it a "rather ugly record". Writing for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, John Harris
John Harris (critic)
John Rhys Harris is a British journalist, writer, and critic.-Early life:Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire by a university lecturer and a teacher, daughter of a nuclear research chemist...

 had similar views, saying "it was a fair bet, therefore, that the drug played its part in the creation of their most ludicrous album, 1999's Head Music."

Suede headlined the Roskilde festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...

 in July 1999, playing three different sets over the three days, playing on the main stage and on two of the smaller tents. In August they headlined the V festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...

, which was the band's first proper U.K. appearance since Reading
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...

 in 1997.

Cover art and title

As a joke, the group originally started to leak the album's title to the press one letter at a time. But two days after releasing the second letter, bassist Mat Osman
Mat Osman
Mat Osman is an English musician, best known as the bassist in the band Suede. He studied at the London School of Economics, where in 1989 he was awarded a BSc in Economics....

 announced the album's title and explained where the idea of releasing the title one letter at a time come from: "Saul [Galpern], head of Nude was hassling for a title, and Brett said, 'I'll tell you one letter at a time until you can guess it." The artwork, which features Anderson's girlfriend Sam, and Neil Codling, was art directed by Peter Saville and designed by Howard Wakefield and Paul Hetherington. Anderson told Saville "I wanted two people joined at the head, sort of listening to each other's heads. He showed me some photos and we eventually got the cover we released."

Track listing

2011 Remastered and Expanded Version

Disc One: Demos
  1. "Indian Strings (Brett's original 8 track demo)" - 4:04
  2. "Everything Will Flow (Protocol Demo)" - 7:10
  3. "He’s Gone (Protocol Demo)" - 5:17
  4. "She’s In Fashion (Protocol Demo)" - 5:19


Disc Two: The B-Sides

All tracks written by Brett Anderson unless stated.
  1. "Leaving" - 4:17 (Anderson/Oakes)
  2. "Popstar" - 5:36 (Anderson/Simon Gilbert
    Simon Gilbert
    Simon Gilbert is an English drummer and member of the English band, Suede....

    /Mat Osman
    Mat Osman
    Mat Osman is an English musician, best known as the bassist in the band Suede. He studied at the London School of Economics, where in 1989 he was awarded a BSc in Economics....

    /Oakes)
  3. "Killer" - 4:58 (Anderson/Oakes)
  4. "Implement Yeah!" - 2:34 (Anderson/Butler/Frischmann/Osman/Gilbert)
  5. "Waterloo" - 3:59 (Codling)
  6. "See That Girl" - 4:28
  7. "Bored" - 3:02 (Anderson/Oakes)
  8. "Pieces Of My Mind" - 4:35
  9. "Jubilee" - 3:47 (Anderson/Codling)
  10. "God’s Gift" - 2:55
  11. "Seascape" - 3:56
  12. "Crackhead" - 5:53 (Anderson/Osman/Gilbert/Oakes/Codling)
  13. "Let Go" - 4:25 (Anderson/Codling)
  14. "Since You Went Away" - 3:06
  15. "Situations" - 4:53 (Anderson/Codling)
  16. "Read My Mind" - 4:41


Extra Tracks
  1. "Poor Little Rich Girl
    Poor Little Rich Girl
    Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1965 underground film by Andy Warhol starring Edie Sedgwick. Poor Little Rich Girl was conceived as the first film in part of a series featuring Sedgwick called The Poor Little Rich Girl Saga...

     (featuring Raissa) - 5:53 (Noel Coward
    Noël Coward
    Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

    )
  2. "Heroin - 2:55
  3. "Music Like Sex" - 3:53 (Anderson/Oakes) (Previously unreleased)


DVD

Promo Videos
  • Electricity
  • She’s In Fashion
  • Can’t Get Enough
  • Everything Will Flow
  • Can’t Get Enough (Australian Edition)


Bonus Videos
  • Recording "Head Music"
  • She (Black Sessions, Paris)


Head Music: Suede At Perivale, 16 April 1999
  • Recorded at Asylum Studios
  • She’s In Fashion
  • Electricity
  • Everything Will Flow
  • Beautiful Ones
  • Indian Strings
  • Savoir Faire
  • Crack In The Union Jack
  • Saturday Night


Bonus DVD Feature
  • Brett Anderson, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling 2011 Interview including film inserts by Simon Gilbert

Personnel

Suede
  • Brett Anderson
    Brett Anderson
    Brett Lewis Anderson is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he briefly fronted The Tears, and has released four solo albums...

     – Vocals, Artwork
  • Richard Oakes
    Richard Oakes (guitarist)
    Richard Oakes is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the guitarist and occasional pianist and backing vocalist of the English band, Suede.-Early life:...

     – Guitar
  • Mat Osman
    Mat Osman
    Mat Osman is an English musician, best known as the bassist in the band Suede. He studied at the London School of Economics, where in 1989 he was awarded a BSc in Economics....

     – Bass guitar
  • Simon Gilbert
    Simon Gilbert
    Simon Gilbert is an English drummer and member of the English band, Suede....

     – Drums
  • Neil Codling
    Neil Codling
    Neil John Codling is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the alternative rock band Suede.-Early life:...

     – Synthesisers


Production
  • Steve Osborne
    Steve Osborne
    Steve Osborne is a multi-platinum selling British record producer. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, such as New Order, Doves, U2 and KT Tunstall. During the 1990s, Osborne was half of the Perfecto Records team, a production and remix collaboration with Paul Oakenfold; the artists...

     – Producer, Mixing
  • Paul Corckett – Engineer
  • Ben Hillier
    Ben Hillier
    Ben Hillier is a British songwriter and pop-rock music producer who is part of the creative team 140dB. He has produced such popular and critically acclaimed albums as Playing the Angel and Sounds of the Universe by Depeche Mode, Think Tank by Blur, Some Cities by Doves and Cast of Thousands by...

      – Engineer
  • Bruce Lampcov – Engineer and Mixing on "Elephant Man"


Additional personnel
  • Peter Saville – Art direction
  • Nick Knight
    Nick Knight (photographer)
    Nick Knight OBE is a British fashion photographer, documentary photographer, and web publisher—as director of SHOWstudio.com.-Life and career:Knight studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design....

     – Photography
  • Howard Wakefield – Design and digital photo manipulation
  • Paul Hetherington – Design and digital photo manipulation


UK Singles Charting

  • 1999 "Electricity" No. 5
  • 1999 "She's in Fashion
    She's in Fashion
    "She's in Fashion" is the second single from the album Head Music by Suede, released on 21 June 1999 on Nude Records. Peaking at number thirteen on the UK singles chart, "She's In Fashion" features a swirling synth line that helps build the song into a dreamy uptempo track, quite unlike anything...

    " No. 13
  • 1999 "Everything Will Flow
    Everything Will Flow
    "Everything Will Flow" is the third single off the album Head Music by Suede, released on 6 September 1999 on Nude Records. The opening synth line sounds very similar to that of the previous single, "She's in Fashion," but the song progresses into a jumpy ballad. It's the first single of the band's...

    " No. 24
  • 1999 "Can't Get Enough" No. 23

US Singles Charting

  • 1999 "Everything Will Flow" #28 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
    Hot Dance Club Play
    The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

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