So where now for the Prodigal Son of English Rock N’ Roll? After blazing a still burning trail through the hearts of music lovers with Carl Barat and the rest of The Libertine’s, Pete Doherty’s career has stuttered. He may have released 2 reasonably-successful albums with Babyshambles, had an emotional onstage reunion with Barat, dated and split up with Kate Moss, embarked on a not-quite-sold-out arena tour and garnered more tabloid inches than is decent for a 28 year old recovering drug addict;, but has his career really progressed, and has he delivered on his early potential to become the spokesman for a generation that has long moved on from Britpop? 



The answer is a resounding and unfortunate no.   Neither ’Shambles album was bad by any stretch, yet neither were they particularly accomplished.  ’Down In Albion’ was half-good, all Mick Jones inspired scuzzy feedback and badly recorded vocals that was trying a bit too hard to sound like the Libertine’s  It was saved by a few barnstorming tunes- ‘Fuck Forever’, ‘Killamangiro’, ‘Loyalty Song’, the ever wonderful ‘Albion’- that rank among the top numbers in the Doherty canon.  Other than that it was strictly okay- a catchy riff here (‘Back From The Dead’), good shouty chorus there (‘Pipedown’),  but nothing that insisted you got up off your couch, and all of it lost in Jones’s under-production/over-production. 



‘Shotter’s Nation’ marked a noticeable change in tack .  Out went Jones and in came Stephen Street and the songs-STONE THE CROWS!- sounded like they had been made with someone sitting the other side of the glass.  In came real production values, and a chance for Doherty’s not untalented band members to show their true colours. Like ‘Down In Albion’ though, it toils under the weight of our expectations of the long-limbed libertine and as a result, is a disappointment.  There are decent tracks there- ‘Delivery’, ‘You Talk’ - but not much that sets them apart from every other scraggly indie band moodily batting their eyelids at A and R men across the capital. 



Unfortunately it is still nigh on impossible to talk about Doherty without mentioning the dreaded D word, so ubiquitous is his battle with them in our daily news.  However, this does appear to be the area where things are moving in a positive direction.  He looks better than before-not hard, admittedly. All the right noises are being made by his band and record label about his determination to kick his myriad drug dependencies and since going to, and being released from, prison earlier this year his face hasn't had quite the shadowy gauntness of the dark days of 05/06.



He is now lives intermittently in Wiltshire- apparently in a 28 room mansion-  and seems to be leading a slightly less manic existence with his cats (though they may not agree) and doing his best to keep his chubby mug way from damaging headlines .  Certainly, to be removed from London with its constant opportunities for misbehavior and the paparazzi lurking on every corner can only be seen as a good thing for him.  

      

But the questions remains; will he step up to the plate and deliver a truly great collection of songs  without the technical skills of his buddy Carl?  He is, we’re told, currently working on a solo acoustic album.  If you speak to any fan of The Libertine’s and Doherty, they generally see this as a encouraging step.  Songwriting has never been his problem, so one would assume that given the chance to display it an uncomplicated and unfussy environment will suit him wonderfully well.  I once saw him play a gig at the now-defunct Duke Of Clarence in Islington in the very early days of Babyshambles and, though the gig itself was something of  a (I hate to say it) shambles, he himself epitomised the charismatic, if troubled, frontman.  Anyone who has ever heard one of the thousands of demo’s out there would also pay testament to the fact that his voice is a fragile thing and suited to a quieter, less frantic backing band where it doesn’t get crowded out by the sounds of scuzz.



In retrospect,it may have been a bit quick of me to denounce Doherty‘s career progression as ‘stuttered‘. Maybe 'going through a transitional period' would be more appropriate.  The quality of his musical output has certainly not been of the standard he set during those breakneck years with the Libertine’s, but the fact remains that despite his problems and impish penchant for anything bad for him he has still released two reasonable albums, been on numerous tours (with various levels of success) and is now, it seems, starting to at least get a handle on the drug problems that have dogged him for too long.   I cannot think of many artists or groups that have not had phases where they have suffered a dip at some point in their career.  For now we do not know whether Doherty will emerge stronger from his current blip, nor whether he will properly kick his addictions. Frankly, if he ups his game and starts releasing the material we know he’s capable of, I suspect most people won’t care either way.

Michael Huddlestone 

Posted In Features, Aug 29 2008.