Once one of the heavyweight players in the 1990s Britpop scene, London band Suede made a comeback this decade with a trilogy of dark, gritty albums. The first two instalments were commendable efforts, but it wasn’t until the final chapter – 2018’s The Blue Hour – that Suede reached the heights they achieved with their 1994 masterpiece Dog Man Star.
The Blue Hour is an ominous and theatrical lamentation on youth, parenthood and the isolation spurred by the modern world, but its crowning jewel is the one track that glimmers like a coin at the bottom of a dark well. ‘Life is Golden’ is an epic anthem for the lonesome and destitute, with frontman Brett Anderson triumphantly singing “Look into the light and be heard/You’re never alone” over spiralling guitar riffs and rising synths.
Accompanied by a mesmerising music video shot on location in the ruins near Chernobyl, the song walks the line between uplifting joy and tearjerking melancholy. It serves as not only one of the best songs released by a returning Britpop band this decade, but was written for Anderson’s son – adding further reassurance to the promise that even “when the world puts all the winter in you”, your life will always be golden.
Check out more underrated songs from the decade here.
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