arrangements". Anderson's lyrics touch on the topics of being disconnected, misfits, regret, tragic love, yearning, loners and the feeling of being alienated. He said he was "slightly over-deliberately not writing about the kinds of things I was writing about in early Suede" material. Anderson and Butler wrote the album's opening track "Refugees" as a reaction to how refugees are treated amongst the public and with immigration policies. Anderson said it began as a "song of identification with the hoards of refugees who were flooding London" a few years prior. It evokes some of the more up-tempo, glam pop songs from Suede's catalogue, namely from their 1993 debut self-titled album, as well as later tracks such as "Trash" (1996) and "...Morning" (2002). For "Autograph", Anderson recounts his regrets about being intimate with groupies over the years. The song's harmonica part recalled the one heard in "Hand in Glove" (1983) by the Smiths. The ballad "Co-Star" is followed by "Imperfection", which continues the theme of Suede's "Obsessions" (2002), that has Anderson describe his partner's flaws, done in tribute to Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare. "The Ghost of You" deals with the subject of death, namely of Anderson's mother. "Two Creatures" tackles the state of the world in the style of the Beautiful South and running away to Africa; "Lovers" comes across as a remake of "Trash", and recalls the work of Dodgy. "Fallen Idols" is about self-doubt, backed by Butler's Beatlesque guitar work that evokes Suede's "Stay Together (1994)". During a live performance, Anderson claimed "Fallen Idols" was about the life of the Who guitarist Pete Townshend. With "Brave New Century", Anderson said he wished to "humanise the immigrant communities", while also criticizing celebrity worship, which had become "more extreme and bizarre". Butler's guitars in it echo the sound of Led Zeppelin. "Beautiful Pain" uses drugs as a metaphor for a lover, in the vein of "There She Goes" (1988) by the La's, and discusses going cold turkey. Anderson wrote "The Asylum" about his father; Playlouder's David Barnett said it was "almost frightening in its frankness" as Anderson "more or less admits that he's bound for the loony bin". "Apollo 13" is a blues power ballad about a destructive relationship. The album's closing song "A Love as Strong as Death" uses weather to convey emotions, and is reminiscent of the Dog Man Star closer "Still Life". Release and promotion In October 2004,