Many of you will know who Pete Doherty is, but for those who don’t, he is the singer and guitarist for the post Britpop bands “The Libertines” and “Babyshambles”.
Doherty’s career started off with the “Libertines”. He co-founded the band with Carl Barât, his room mate and best friend at the time. Pete’s infamous drug abuse lifestyle lead to the band’s split. Doherty went on to form “Babyshambles”, a band with a similar sound to that of the libertines, just slightly burnt out. Their debut album “Down in Albion”, was startlingly underrated, most critics more preoccupied by Doherty’s tabloid feeding antics and not the actual album. “Babyshambles” second album lacked the emotion of the first and drifted by the wayside.
Just like “The Libertines”, “Babyshambles” fell to pieces.
Grace/Wastelands is Peter’s first solo album. This album is possibly the furthest thing away from Doherty’s original sound that one could have expected from him. First of all, he’s put away the big rough sounding noise of his electric guitar and has picked up an acoustic one, which works surprisingly well. The opening song “Arcady”, a gentle acoustic piece, sounds more like Doherty singing a story, not at all like his old style.
The album is also a bit of a collaboration. Graham Coxon, the guitarist from blur, plays guitar for several songs on the album..
“A little death around the eyes” is a song that really stands out on the album. Even though it isn’t instrumentally anything like the sound “The Libertines” had, it still sounds like a song “The Libertines” would have sung. Carl Barat was the co-writer, so that explains that.
The album in all, is a success. When first listening to the album, one gets the impression, that Peter has sat down, put the heroin aside for a bit, and has finally used his creativity and musical brilliance to deliver a ridiculously good album. The result is a project which is musically superior to his previous style. Don't get me wrong, "The Libertines" are great, but for an artist like Doherty, Grace/Wastelands is by far more an accomplishment.
One can’t help but notice, that Doherty does sound wrecked. The years of partying, drug abuse and live shows have definitely taken a toll on him and his voice. The "20 a day" cigarette habit doesn't help much either.
It works for him though.
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