Album Reviews |

Peter Doherty



Grace/Wasteland 8½ ( 2009 )
Arcadie / Last of the English Roses / 1939 Returning / A Little Death Around the Eyes / Salome / Through the Looking Glass / Sweet By and By / Palace of Bone / Sheepskin Tearaway / Broken Love Song / New Love Grows on Trees / Lady, Don't Fall Backwards

Pete goes solo with help from his Babyshambles friends and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. This might have been a messy disaster and finally ruined Pete's reputation for good. Thankfully, it's actually the best set of tunes anybody connected with The Libertines has put out since they split up. Yes, you read that right, Pete has finally re-discovered his mojo to the extent that he's writing songs again every bit as good as the best of The Libertines. As always with Pete, there's a couple of weird moments that don't quite make it, but still. Hat's off to the now rather formally named Peter Doherty. What does he do or sound like here, then? Well, Stephen Street produces and gets a bit of variety down with dubby sounds and makes makes sure the arrangements are tight. Half of the LP is almost entirely solo Doherty though and we get a good mix between fuller produced numbers and acoustic Doherty. We even get Doherty giving those pesky Arctic Monkeys guys a lesson with 'A Little Death Around The Eyes'. You see, here's a song. Yes, it's got strings, yes, it's got tremendous lyrics that really could only have come from Pete. In short, it's better than Arctic Monkeys entire career.

'Lady Don't Fall Backwards' is every bit as gorgeous as 'When The Lights Go Out' on that second Libertines album, in case you needed reminding who wrote all the good Libertines tunes, whatever NME might have told you. The songs on 'Grace/Wasteland' are all vintage Doherty, closer to the truth than just a throwaway line a review, too. Many of these tunes date back to the mid-part of the decade where Pete was extremely prolific. In short, if many of these tunes were indeed Libertines leftovers then Pete's leftovers shine better than many bands single a-sides. I should explain myself away though giving 'Last Of The English Roses' 2/5 as a single release. It gets 4/5 as an album track - it really does need playing as part of a collective and needs repeat plays. As a single, it just lacks any instant catchiness. Anyway, the first five tunes on the album are pretty near classics and the rest isn't too far behind. Pete's problem now is getting anybody apart from his loyal fanbase to actually believe in him again.

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Readers Comments Brandon Toronto Somehow Doherty manages to snatch his repuation back from the tabloids. His talent for melody and twisted arrangements remains in tact. And am I the only one who thinks he shows a new found maturity on this? If he had hadn't recently supplied cocaine to an overdose victim, I might argue he had turned a corner. Oh, that Pete...Coxon's guitar work is understated and classy.