In January 2004, the pair had begun recording music together in secrecy; they decided to form the Tears with bassist Nathan Fisher, drummer Makoto Sakamoto and keyboardist Will Foster.

[2] While this was occurring, Suede continued releasing albums through to A New Morning (2002); it was unsuccessful commercially, with the band taking an indefinite hiatus by the end of 2003.

[7] The pair decided to form the Tears, which also featured bassist Nathan Fisher, drummer Makoto Sakamoto and keyboardist Will Foster.

They were assisted by Helen Atkinson and Richard Woodcraft at RAK, Adrian Breakspear at 2KHz, Joe Hirst and Jimmy Robertson at Miloco, and Jackson Gold at West Heath Yard.

[13] Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it fell "between the incessantly catchy pop that wound up on Coming Up and the sighing romanticism and larger-than-life sweep of Dog Man Star".

[14] RTÉ's Katie Moten said Here Come the Tears lacks any kind of substantial tempo changes, bar "A Love as Strong as Death", compared to Dog Man Star, which "boasted a host of varying beats and rhythms".

[15] Another comparison to Dog Man Star was made by Joe Tangari from Pitchfork, with him singling out the "wandering, Leslie'd pianos and smearing, slightly antagonistic string arrangements".

[18] 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).

[23] 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.

[13][22] "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.

[21] 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".

[27] In February 2005, they played three shows, one of which was at the London Astoria as part of the NME Awards, where they were supported by Nine Black Alps, the Dead 60s and the Magic Numbers.

[30][31][32] Two versions were released on CD: the first with "Southern Rain", while the second featured "Feels Like Monday", "Branded" and the music video for "Refugees".

[47] Some reviewers felt that Here Come the Tears sounded like later Suede material, while others found it to be more in line with Dog Man Star.

Erlewine noted that, the album is "what Coming Up would have been if Butler had stuck around"; The Irish Times writer Brian Boyd said that if "this had been the follow-up to Dog Man Star, things might have been very different".

[54] Moten said the Tears "borrow a lot from that earlier partnership", with the album coming across as "far inferior to Suede's classic collection, 'Dog Man Star'".

Music reviewer Sharon O'Connell said that Anderson was "still penning lyrics about cigarettes, coffee, mascara and magazines, like he's just beamed in from the Bronze Age", an observation that Tangari and Andy Gill of The Independent also made.

[13][17][16] Pete Cashmore of NME called Here Come the Tears the "best album you'll hear this year, by a mile", stating that its only flaw is that it is an "embarrassment of riches, a grande bouffe of drama, beauty and romance".

[52] Barnet said that apart from the "handful of duff tracks and a couple of absolute howlers, 'Here Come The Tears' is a fine album - certainly not the best they've made together, nor even apart, but accomplished, ambitious and often highly impressive".

[13] Stylus Magazine reviewer Mike Mineo wrote that the duo had "not lost a bit of the touch that made them famous in the early 1990s—this debut will surely prove to be one of the most consistent albums of the year".

[15] LAS Magazine writer Niles Baranowski wrote that it "sounds confident and brash but breaks little new ground", added that "[j]ust as on the first two Suede records, Butler's noisy, glittery guitar tone is a secret weapon".