Suede continued releasing albums through to A New Morning (2002); it was unsuccessful commercially, with the band taking an indefinite hiatus by the end of 2003. A few days after Suede's final show in December 2003, Butler was contacted by Anderson, marking the first time the pair spoke in nine years. In January 2004, it was reported that Anderson and Butler had recorded music together. Anderson would visit Butler at his house to write new material. The pair decided to form the Tears, which also featured bassist Nathan Fisher, drummer Makoto Sakamoto and keyboardist Will Foster. By June 2004, the band made demos of 18 songs for possible inclusion on their upcoming debut album. Butler produced the sessions with Anderson acting as the executive producer; recording was held at RAK Studios, 2KHz, Alsatian Nation, West Heath Yard and Miloco Studios. Butler and Nick Terry served as engineers at Alsatian Nation, while Sebastian Lewsley did the same at West Heath Yard. They were assisted by Helen Atkinson and Richard Woodcraft at RAK, Adrian Breakspear at 2KHz, Joe Hirst and Jimmy Robertson at Miloco, and Jackson Gold at West Heath Yard. Steve Price recorded the orchestra at Angel Studios. Recording wrapped up in October 2004. All of the songs, bar "The Asylum", were mixed at The Strongroom with assistance from Tom Paterson; "The Asylum" was mixed at Miloco. Composition and lyrics Here Come the Tears is a pop album, which takes influence from the work of David Bowie, namely his albums The Man Who Sold the World (1970) and Hunky Dory (1971). Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it fell "between the incessantly catchy pop that wound up on Coming Up and the sighing romanticism and larger-than-life sweep of Dog Man Star". Dom Gourlay of Drowned in Sound wrote that the band were an "amalgam[ation] of Butler's prosthetic paean to prog-rock 'The Asphalt World' [from Dog Man Star] and an extension to what his 'Friends And Lovers' solo project may have sounded like with snappier couplets and more concise observations". RTÉ's Katie Moten said Here Come the Tears lacks any kind of substantial tempo changes, bar "A Love as Strong as Death", compared to Dog Man Star, which "boasted a host of varying beats and rhythms". Another comparison to Dog Man Star was made by Joe Tangari from Pitchfork, with him singling out the "wandering, Leslie'd pianos and smearing, slightly antagonistic string