IN the Nineties, Brett Anderson paved the way for Britpop with his band Suede.

Along with guitarist Bernard Butler, Anderson created delicious rock, a gothic concoction of venomous but melancholic vocal and rousing guitar which re-energised the British music scene.

When Suede split up, fans and critics labelled it as the worst musical break-up since Morrissey and Marr dismantled The Smiths.

In 2005, Anderson and Butler joined forces again with The Tears. There was an album, which failed to catch fire.

If there was a sneaking suspicion that Anderson could not cut it without Butler, the 40-year-old puts paid to that with his first solo album.

It's an exquisite collection of ballads, providing the perfect vehicle for Anderson's sad and sweeping voice. He's never sounded better and while the overall result is less frenzied, it's a lot more thoughtful and grown-up.

It begins with the first single, Love Is Dead, with the opening lyric: "Nothing ever goes right, nothing ever flows in my life." Anderson says it's the most honest song he's written since Trash a decade ago.

The fact that the Anderson still captures the sound of Suede in several of the tracks - Dust And Rain, Scorpio Rising and Infinite Kiss - makes you realise how talented he was after all.

And for something completely different, there's the waltz-like The More We Possess The Less We Own Of Ourselves, where Anderson comments on the self-destruction of our material age.