Peter Doherty “Grace/Wastelands” Review

Peter Doherty’s pain is a river that runs wide and deep. From an objective standpoint the Babyshambles frontman seems like he should have everything to be happy about: he’s a rock star, he dates supermodels, he’s still young; however when you add unbridled hard drug use into the equation everything else sort of goes out the window. Even kicking the habit (as he has purportedly done) apparently doesn’t square a license to be cheerful. Instead of concentrating on the bright future, the former drug addict’s nature seems to be to dwell on the wreckage of the past. And that is precisely what Doherty’s debut solo Grace/Wastelands does. Moving even further away from the hard and fast days of Doherty’s former band, the Libertines, G/W is a slow, regretful stare at his former life (made more so considering many of the songs were actually written during said former life). It is also some of the finest work he has produced to date.

Doherty recruited Blur super-guitarist Graham Coxon to lend his axe in the studio, and though more understated than he is capable of, Coxon’s fine pickings add immensely to the record’s musical complexity. The rest of Babyshambles also back up the singer from time to time throughout the album. Thematically G/W hews pretty closely to Doherty’s established allegorical canon—nostalgia, freedom, England, etc. The record opens with a jaunty little ode to everyday life with “Arcady,” an allusion to the ancient Greek utopia of “Arcadia,” a symbol that makes numerous appearances in Doherty’s body of work. Arcady/Arcadia could stand for a number of things from idealistic romanticism to the blissful escape brought on by hard drugs (of which Doherty was famously quite fond of). The tune is about as fun and fanciful as the album gets (which isn’t saying much).

(Peter Doherty by wobble-san via flickr per Creative Commons)

Doherty follows up strong with “Last of the English Roses,” which seems destined to become a pub drinking standard due to its nostalgic theme and anglophile lyrics. The song addresses sentimentality and the passage of time, and is helped along by a Clash inspired reggae beat that recalls a bit of nostalgia all on its own. The simplistic arrangement can be deceiving at first, but it’s helped quite a bit by vivid melancholy imagery. The album then goes through a number of different twists and turns, touching on country and rockabilly in the gothic “Palace of Bone” and full on brass and piano New Orleans’ jazz in “Sweet By and By.” It lands again with “Sheepskin Tearaway” a slow burning ballad that oozes as much misery as it does beauty. Tearway speaks of opening up a heart “full of scars” and “full of heroin,” and through Doherty’s vulnerable wail it literally sounds as if it’s his own heart that’s being torn open. And it might very well be. Doherty described releasing a record with only his name on it as “one of the most frightening things [he has] ever done,” and the vulnerability of Doherty’s confession gives the feeling that he’s offering up his soul to be embraced or trod upon by his audience.

Consider me an embracer. Though he’s had his ups and downs, I have always admired Doherty’s unabashed and unembarrassed romanticism, as well as his continual search for freedom, whether through drugs or otherwise. However difficult his struggle may be, it’s always produced some of the most memorable songwriting of our time. It remains to be seen if Grace/Wastelands is just a footnote in said struggle, or the precursor to change yet to come. However if one thing can ever be said with certainty of Pete Doherty, it’s that he’ll burn out rather than to fade away.

Peter Doherty “New Love Grows on Trees” [MP3]

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Also: Babyshambles “There She Goes” (Best of the Decade)