"Bush Hall, who'd have thought it, eh?" said a mildly rueful Brett Anderson about the tiny venue that was staging his comeback.

This was, after all, the man who helped kick-start Britpop with Suede's brilliant, brash debut - although it was Oasis, Blur and Pulp who ended up dominating the celebratory mood music of the mid-Nineties.

That's best explained by Anderson's unusual voice and lyrics, which were a little too awkward for huge mainstream success.

Now the more personal songs on his forthcoming solo album will probably be equally divisive. Certainly, the former Suede frontman singing about being lonely in Notting Hill won't do it for everyone.

The few hundred fans at Bush Hall embraced his new-found musical maturity, though, loudly applauding the opening song To The Winter on which his indie croon sounded stronger than ever.

New single Love Is Dead is one of the best things he's done in years, and on stage it was bolstered with spiky riffs from a shaggy-haired guitarist.

He didn't look very Suede-like, but had some of the dramatic playing style of Anderson's erstwhile song-writing partner, Bernard Butler.

There were also some darkly romantic ballads, although the new material didn't always deliver: Dust And Rain was a Suede throwback, prompting Anderson to lurch into an overfamiliar, energetic performance.

Still, his self-belief held the audience during the new songs, even when his musicians - including one former bandmate - were occasionally a bit plodding.

It was a generous set, too, with five Suede songs including an acoustic Wild Ones and a gnarly Film Star.

And the finale of Trash got the crowd pogoing around as if the ornate Bush Hall was an indie disco circa 1996.

By the end, Anderson was dripping with sweat and shouting madly, maturity discarded. "You love it!" he bawled - and they did.