Suede @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 8 Feb

“I don't have the means of expression/to explain my obsessions” bemoans Brett Anderson in sonorous, spine-tingling fashion during the Bowie-esque lament What I’m Trying To Tell You. That the grievance comes rumbling out through the Royal Concert Hall’s magnificent acoustics instils the lyric with more than a dash of irony; that the wiry Suede frontman is performing the track veiled, along with the rest of the band, behind an enormous feature film projection accompanying seismic new album Night Thoughts, makes one wonder just what further means of expression Anderson could hope for.

Obsessions, regrets and fixations are what make Night Thoughts, the follow up to 2013's lauded comeback Bloodsports, such a surprisingly modern and accessible record. It’s formed from the same, reliable Suede glam-grunge mould, but the weight of years lends a hefty lyrical depth to the reformed group’s seventh LP in a way that perfectly underscores the record’s ominous rock operatics.

Played track by track in perfect time by the band, the concomitant film projection chronicles the tragic decline and eventual suicide of a man beset by family tragedy, imbuing the performance with an even greater emotional gravitas. So shiveringly emotive is Anderson’s impressive delivery on the expansive Outsiders, or the heart-rending I Can’t Give Her What She Really Wants, that an audiovisual extravaganza suddenly seems like the only way to give Night Thoughts the expression it deserves. If it sounds dark, it is, and brilliantly so.

We’re almost grateful then for the second half of the set, a soothing antidote to the spellbinding yet bone-cracking intensity of the first. The group launch into greatest hits mode with blistering, buoyant, intensity, rattling through Killing Of A Flashboy, Trash and Animal Nitrate as the crowd sing and dance along with unbridled glee.

Age has certainly not wearied our frontman, with his lithe stage moves and gentleman swagger, and you can always rely on a Glaswegian to sum up the mood: when the gentle acoustic spell of This Time is broken by a rambunctious punter barking “Brett, you sexy bastard”, there can be no doubt that Suede still hold a very vital place in a generation of old hearts, and some new ones, too. Veterans, take note – this is how you stage a comeback show.