Peter Doherty - Grace/Wastelands [Album]

Parlophone - Out 16th March 09

March 4, 2009, 03:23 PM

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Ah, what can you say about the cheeky-chappy, lovable scamp that is Pete (sorry, Peter) Doherty. Well it appears, according to the tabloids, quite a lot actually. I suppose when your a smack-headed, Kate Moss-fiddling artiste (who I can imagine grumbles in Homebase because Dulux don't sell 2.5 litre tins of his blood for his decorating purposes) then I can understand that there might be just a little bit to talk about! However, this review is about his music not his personal life so I'll try and have less of that.

Now on a personal opinion (I'm going to get this out of the way early as promised), I don't have any time for him whatsoever. Babyshambles are a pile of steaming cack as far as I'm concerned and I was never one to drizzle my seed all over The Libertines, though I will concede they wrote some decent tunes however, I never thought they deserved the almost lunacy of coverage and plaudits that they received. However, 'For Lovers' with Wolfman was an excellent track and it leads me to believe that left alone and free of any band then maybe, just maybe, Pete(r) Doherty does have it in him to really shine and not just in the incredibly greasy way he currently does - he's getting cleaner apparently.

And so to his debut solo album 'Grace/Wastelands' produced by Stephen Street (boy, he gets about) and featuring all of Babyshambles (not such a solo album after all), Dot Allison, and on guitar throughout adding some credibility to the record and an almost 'it can't be that bad if he's on it then' vibe, the one and only Graham Coxon. Truthfully it is a fairly decent crack at a solo album and a slight departure from what we generally have heard before. Sure, there is still probably songs about Albion (surely not West Brom?) and all that crap, but then that wouldn't be Doherty if there weren't. I think the real departure is in the feel of the tracks, at times sparse and at other times full of 60's soundtrack styling's which I attribute to more attention to detail and surely due to the influence of Street and Coxon.

Opening with the strumming skiffle of 'Arcadie' a track of dedication to the place Doherty retreats to in times of reflection I would imagine "In Arcadie a life trips along/Pure and simple as the shepherd's song" it's a delightful little opener leaving Doherty sounding like a less-vitriolic, more thoughtful Joe Strummer (usually I can't stand the Doherty vocal). Giving way to lead single 'Last Of The English Roses' which takes a 'Ghost town' dub-feeling of desolation before the chorus lifts the mood as Doherty sings a dedication to a girl from his past. You get the feeling that almost all his songs come from some time and place in his life or his head rather than observations of life around him.


'1939 Returning' returns to a more standstill gentle strum of a track featuring orchestration and a slyly delivered Coxon guitar with Doherty eulogizing about the second world war "Dragged out of the frozen Rhine/With the Motherland and the Third Reich". Continuing with the melodies of the past we get 'A Little Death Around The Eyes' which musically could advertise some ancient expensive French perfume back in the 50's. Sometimes the music out shines what Doherty is trying to say [as in this track] and I almost forget he's there. 'Salome' follows which is a less over-the-top version of 'A Little Death...' featuring lush orchestration and an unmistakable Coxon guitar, I'm beginning to see a lot of these songs almost merge into one with their similarities.

So with welcome relief the shuddering bass of 'Through The Looking Glass' judders in and now we really see the Street/Coxon combo at work as as we get a Blur track with Doherty vocals. It's almost the most instantly accessible track playing on that Blur/Libertines sound but with an undeniably Doherty lyric "I've been meaning to tell you a sentimental thing". Pub piano beckons in 'Sweet By And By' which allegedly is about Carl Barat (or for him) as Doherty sings a reminiscent vocal "Where did you go? I don't know/Didn't say goodbye" it's quite a sweet little ode of a track and I love the intimate musicality of it which is reminiscent of some smoky jazz club in small-town USA, full of solo trumpets and horns.


'Palace Of Bone' delivers a shuffling track that for me just fails to go anywhere despite the twang of the slide guitar (Coxon again?). Dot Allison crops up for 'Sheepskin Tearaway' which I'm sure is a Doherty love song with some poignancy for him with lyrics like "She opened her heart to a tearaway/He was covered in scars and full of heroin" and Allison's breathy vocals add a soft tenderness that is evident in their harmonies. 'Broken Love Song' is almost the opposite with less tenderness and more of jagged response to love and the sour-side of relationships as Doherty repeats "Killing Love" before the title's chorus.

Redemption in love comes though in the guise of 'New Love Grows On Trees' which is an odd kind of love song with a Romeo & Juliet-esque storyline of lovers and the pacts they have made "If your still alive when your 25/Will I kill you/Like you want me to" delivered in that garbled, throaty Doherty way. Finishing up with 'Lady, Don't Fall Backwards' which completes the album's latter theme of love as [once again] Doherty sings a gentle lullaby to another girl in his life which again possesses a simplistic acoustic guitar/organ background and Doherty pleading "Lady, don't you fall backwards/Come on and fall into my arms".

For those of you out-there simply addicted to all things Doherty then there is simply no disappointment to be found. Grace/Wastelands is an album full of the sound of the man himself and unmistakably so. However, having previously stated my dislike for the man and most of his previous musical output (which isn't going to change anytime soon) I have to admit there is a certain charm to 'Grace/Wastelands'. It is less ramshackle and I'd like to think that this is due to working with one of his heroes Graham Coxon, thus calming Doherty down and making him get on with the business of making music instead of courting controversy. Hopefully it'll all have rubbed off on him and maybe now we will really get to see if Peter Doherty is the musical maestro that many folk seem to think he his, I'm still standing on the other-side of the line but I'm edging closer to acceptance.

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