Babyshambles
Down In Albion

THE REVIEW

"Down In Albion" by Babyshambles is not an easy album to judge nor, at the very least, to review. The year was 2005, following the fateful 2004, which had seen the release of the second self-titled album and the breakup of the greatest indie band in England of the last 10 years: The Libertines.

Peter Doherty, better known as Pete, guitarist, singer, and leader of the band along with Carl Barât, was at that time, partly for his artistic merits and his legal misdeeds, partly for his rockstar/poet bad boy persona, and especially for his love story with Kate Moss, one of the most talked-about figures across the Channel, and he was preparing to return to the scene with his new band, which initially was supposed to be little more than a temporary "fooling around" project: namely, the Babyshambles. The new debut is once again entrusted to the production of the historic former Clash guitarist, Mick Jones, who had already produced the two Libertines albums. It's a sort of concept album with the story of Beauty and the Beast (Pete and Kate?) as the backdrop, where Doherty's romantic and Apollonian side emerges, until that moment well hidden behind the persona of the transgressive and decadent rockstar, which had already recently surfaced with the single "For Lovers", recorded in collaboration with Wolfman, and would find its fullest expression in the first and splendid solo album of 2009 "Grace/Wastelands".

It's a well-thought-out work but paradoxically poorly produced and poorly polished, composed of a full 16 tracks, many of which date back to the Libertines era and whose demos were already circulating, with a total duration of about an hour, where the garage/punk-pop/rock mix doesn't work perfectly and, in fact, after several listens, it becomes tiring, finding a proper settling only after multiple playthroughs. The opener is assigned to the lengthy duet with Kate Moss "La Belle Et La Bête", which then gives way to the chart-topping single "Fuck Forever", an authentic manifesto and synthesis of Doherty-thought. From here, it's a succession of garage punk revival with the handbrake semi-engaged, including the good single "Kilamangiro" and the engaging romantic lament of "In Love With A Feeling", up to the unheard reggae of "Pentonville", which so much recalls the memory of the "Sandinista!" era of the Clash. Moving to a more recent past, we come to "What Katy Did Next?", a clear sequel to "What Katy Did?", present in the eponymous album of the Libertines, which opens the hypothetical b-side of the album, where the typically raw punk sound gives way to a more typically acoustic tone. Among these, the masterpiece ballad-anthem "Albion", a dramatic and touching tableau of the English underground, already recorded as a demo in the Libertines era, and preceded by a mad minute of sonic interlude that makes one almost think of a Lou Reed era "Metal Machine Music" rather than the new prodigy of British rock. Having become much more enjoyable, the album proceeds smoothly with a couple of tracks in the same vein as "What Katy Did Next?", until it flows and concludes with the chorus of "Merry Go Round", the twin song of the already mentioned and praised "Albion".

Overall, it's a good album, which, let’s be clear, will certainly not be remembered for being the new "Pet Sounds", and it is not even comparable to the splendid "Up The Bracket", the Libertines' debut and genuine rock milestone of the new millennium. However, "Down In Albion" remains probably the most varied album of Pete Doherty's career to date, which is not, after all, such a long one yet: a work that is still raw but more than any other manifestates the true intentions and artistic vocations of the "cursed rockstar poet". Hoping that his career can finally fully resume in the studio as well, perhaps with a definitive reunion of the Libertines, now a year and a half after the 2010 reunion for the Reading and Leeds festivals, there's nothing left to do but to dust off his old works, splendid but not yet fully mature, imagining how it could have gone without too many legal troubles, drug and alcohol excesses, and the sad end of the relationship with Kate Moss. But Doherty is still only 32 years old today, and practically still has a lifetime ahead in which to prove to be truly the genius he is painted as, especially at home, by many fans and critics alike.

Assuming he hasn't already demonstrated it sufficiently.