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jammin'
The broken love song of Peter Doherty
The darling of British tabloids, ex-boyfriend of Kate Moss
and a poetic genius to reckon with in the music industry, Peter
Doherty returns with his first solo and most personal album to
date. Instep takes a close look…
By
Maheen Sabeeh
Artist:
Peter Doherty
Album: Grace/Wastelands*****
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There
are two sides to the man that is Peter Doherty. One is the
darling of British tabloids who shot to fame for his tremulous
love affair with supermodel Kate Moss and his inability to
stay clean and sober. From faking urine samples to exploring
religion behind bars - Pete, sorry Peter Doherty gave enough
fodder to the press as his equally talented and troubled female
counterpart Amy Winehouse.
The other is the musician who inside studios can roll with
punk and blue acoustic rhythms with equal panache. Behind
the self-loathing and self-destruction lies the "people's
poet" as he is fondly referred to by his loyal band of
followers. And it is this Pete Doherty that really matters.
On his solo album, Grace/Wastelands, Peter Doherty bares his
soul out. Even as members of Babyshambles play on the record
alongside Blur guitarist Graham Coxon under the guidance of
producer Stephen Street, this is very much Peter on his own,
quite like his real life. Beautifully written, sharply produced
with emotional depth that may put many superstar musicians
to fame, Grace/Wastelands is a landmark. |
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Gone
are the riveting riffs, garage punk sounds that one fell in love
with on the previous Babyshambles records - Peter's current band.
Instead there is an oscillating range of acoustic guitars, steely
drums mixed with some exquisite and tormenting bass lines. The result
is a mellower and consequently a mournfully brilliant album.
The world of denial for Peter is over. It is palpable on tunes such
as 'A Little Death Around The Eyes' where he sings, "You cook
and clean and sew/When I tell you to/Dance and screw when I want
you to/In a hotel room you take your medicine/On all fours, that's
your medicine/Feeling better now?/Feeling any better now?/A little
death around the eyes".
'A Little Death Around the Eyes' is to Grace/Wastelands what 'Lost
Art of Murder' was to Shotter's Nation: a jaw-dropping shocker tune
laced with melancholia that lingers on long after the songs stops
playing.
At times, the songs are simply moving and can be heard on repeat
mode. Two such tunes are 'Palace of Bone' with its groovy bass,
Joe Strummer-like drumming and heartbreaking words and 'Sheepskin
Tearaway' with its brutally honest lyricism that hits hard in the
gut.
On 'Palace of Bone', Pete croons, "I'm going to build me a
palace of bone/wide open walls and an ebony throne/where they're
aint no black and white and no innocent soul/can't come and dance
in the palace of bone/" - it wanders into your conscience and
grows there.
All the self-doubt that plagues Peter comes out on 'Sheepskin Tearaway'.
With its gloomy melody and Peter singing in spoken-passage like
style, one is left blown away with the words. "All my life
I've been fighting/And making the best of/And willing very bad luck,
very bad luck, very... very bad luck/Who you're fighting but nowhere/If
nowheres here with you/On my skin/And you can fight forever/But
if you killed them all/You'll never win/So give me your surrender/There
are other ways/To kill the pain/But things will never mend you".
Dot Allison also sings on this tune and adding female vocals gives
this song more character.
One finds suppressed anger floating on 'Broken Love Song' with scorching
riffs spread throughout the tune. "Letters from faceless haters/That'd
love to/See my swinging in my cell" sings Pete and on the chorus
he yells, "They are the loneliest". It's a swing on those
who continue to thrash Peter Doherty as a whacked out junkie. |
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The
aggression continues on a slightly subtle note on 'New Love
Grows on Trees' with its haunting soundboard with lone guitars
and a brooding keyboard.
It's a paradoxical song, really. "And if you're still
alive/When you're twenty five/Shall I kill you like you asked
me to", Pete asks and then sings further, "But I
really don't want to". There is end to the tunnel and
he plays it to the best of his ability.
Hope finds its way in bits and pieces on the album, possibly
like the life of Peter Doherty. On 'Aracady and 'Lady Don't
Fall Backwards', those hints come out alive.
'Lady Don't Fall Backwards' almost sounds like an ode to Peter's
ex Kate Moss as he sings with a childlike flirtation, "Well,
I wouldn't want for you to come to any harm/Now tell me, if
darkness comes/Then I will sing you a song/And I will love
you forever/At least 'til morning comes/Lady don't you fall
backwards".
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On the other hand 'Arcady' with its pleasant guitars and an optimistic
sounding Peter sounds wonderful. It's just got a hopeful feel to
it.
"In Arcadie, your life trips along/It's pure and simple as
the shepherd's song."
Carry
up in the morning
Even as Pete gets slammed for his recklessness and rebellion, it
is with his solo record one finds Pete's inner turmoil blown out
in the open. And that is a courageous feat for a man who admittedly
suffers from "low self-esteem". The sound on Grace/Wastelands
is borders on minimalism with hardcore punk riffs here and there.
The mood fluctuates and that is really a very good thing.
Critics chalked up the success of Babyshambles's last record, Shotter's
Nation as the final fluke for Peter. They said he could never top
it because of his nonsensical, never-ending shenanigans. They are
wrong
.
There is a Korean word Han. It refers to a state of mind, of soul
to be precise.
It means sadness "so deep that no tears will come. And yet
there is hope."
In the end, Han defines the sound and soul of Peter Doherty's Grace/Wastelands.
And perhaps the man himself.
-Grace/Wastelands is available on I-Tunes, Napster and for free
download on torrents.
*****Get
it NOW!
****Just get it
***Maybe maybe not
**Just download the best song
*Forget that this was made
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