Rare is the comeback album that makes you want to return to the old records so you can carry on listening, rather than because you need a reminder of how good the group used to be. But Suede's sixth album, 11 years after their underwhelming fifth, is a bit of a treat. From the opening Barriers it bristles with confidence and certainty, even if it is oddly sequenced, finishing with four consecutive ballads, each of which are fine in their own right – especially the breathtaking Sometimes I Feel I'll Float Away – but create a Return of the King-style series of false endings. However, after the bravura opening half of the album, it's hard to complain: the rockers drip with those unexpected chord changes that always lifted Suede above the competition, and Hit Me has a chorus so uplifting it entirely justifies a refrain of "hit me with your majesty". If Brett Anderson's lyrics are a touch melodramatic at times – "her touch is like a raven's shadow" (is it?) – they suit the vivid music, and it's not as if one goes to Suede for understatement, anyway.