Britpop stars Suede draw crowds to HMV in Portsmouth for signing session to promote new album Autofiction

The band drew swarms of fans to HMV in Commercial Road, Portsmouth, for a signing session to mark the release of Autofiction, their ninth album.

The Trash hitmakers are chasing their fourth number one album, but are locked in a three-way race for the top spot with K-pop superstars Blackpink and Japanese–British singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama.

And front of the queue were superfans Andy and Sally Cornish – it was also Andy’s 58th birthday. The pair got to the front of the line by arriving about an hour before Suede were due to appear on Thursday evening.

Andy, from Southsea, said: ‘We’ve met them before – but this was a nice birthday treat.

‘We’d already bought the album on CD when we got tickets for their second night at the Electric Ballroom,’ the band play the London venue on October 5 and 6, and both nights quickly sold out, ‘but we couldn’t miss this opportunity.’

The queue wound its way all around the shop and fans kept the band, minus bassist Matt Osman, busy with taking photos and producing copies of the album and books for them to sign.

Store manager Brad Winteridge said: ‘It’s been fantastic, really exciting, it’s great to see so many people in the store.

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‘We think we’ve sold about 300 copies of the album today on vinyl and CD. This is the first signing we’ve done here, but we are hoping to do more. We’re also planning to do more HMV Live And Local shows here as well.’

HMV Live and Local is the entertainment retailer’s brand for putting on instore gigs by local acts.

Members of the band’s fanclub, The Insatiable Ones were also in Portsmouth, buying copies to get signed not just for themselves but for fans around the world.

Sam Hand, from Reading, named her son Brett after band frontman Brett Anderson. She said: ‘I’ll be sending these all over the world – Brazil, Spain, America, Australia…

‘I love the fact that their lyrics are so relatable and their music touches the deepest part of my soul. And they are the nicest people in the world – they are beautiful inside and out.’