The Tears
‘Refugees’ single
Independiente
April 25

Do they ever still write PLAY LOUD! on records? ‘Refugees’ is a one-song argument for the reintroduction of this charming, if sadly mislaid, foible. Beginning with colossal, thunderous drums, ‘Refugees’ bursts from the speakers like the heavens opening; a wall of scything, trebly guitars from the country’s most-missed guitar hero, soon joined by the unmistakable tones of one of its most original and distinctive vocalists. Christ! Have we ever missed Brett and Bernard being together?!

‘Refugees’ - instant and exciting, insistent and hooky, positive and so, so melodic – is, like ‘The Drowners’ when Suede first appeared – an instant classic pop song, as only Anderson & Butler can pen them. Swaggering and panoramic, sweet and swooning. ‘Refugees’ is a an epic in miniature, which clocks in at no more than two minutes and fifty-four seconds, and thereby requires that the stylus be returned immediately to the start.