Still, it's indicative of the time passed that the reconciliation has gone almost unnoticed. Releasing the album in the same week as LPs from indie-bedwetters turned U2-sized stadium bothers Coldplay and The White Stripes (who are obviously far too good to get a bitchy aside) didn't really help, but for a pair who made Suede one of the biggest bands in the world about ten years ago, the lack of acknowledgement must sting a bit.

Anyway, Lovers isn't the sound of two former friends sniping at each other or indeed bitching at the world, just an upbeat, soaring, epic number that's somewhat like Yes by McAlmont and some guy called Butler. It's rather spectacularly good. And just think, if they'd done it five years ago, people might have actually cared...