Peter Doherty: Felt Better Alive review — charming poetry and silliness
• Peter Doherty interview: 'I can't wear normal shoes at the moment'
'I tiptoed around gravestones digging up old songs, felt better, oh my,' he sings over a haunted fairground rhythm on Felt Better Alive, one of a handful of songs in which Doherty addresses his life's calling as a salvation from himself. With its elegant strings and bright melody, Pot of Gold starts out as a seemingly innocent lullaby to his daughter, before Doherty reveals more venal intentions. 'If that lullaby is a hit, dad can buy you loads of cool shit,' he sings, also suggesting that if his child is silent for a few moments more, he can write 'the kind of thing they pay millions for'. Rarely has such naked intention been laid out so barely in lyrical form.
You wouldn't think Doherty, being a beloved indie rock singer of ill repute, should be worrying about money, but it turns out that all those years of addiction, which included three spells in jail, did not lead to the most prudent investment choices. 'I'm in serious financial shtuck,' Doherty told The Times last year, before revealing that he was facing a £200,000 tax bill, a black hole of debt for the Libertines' residential Margate studio the Albion Rooms, and three grand a month in child support for two older children from previous relationships. 'Why do you think I'm doing this tour?' he elaborated. Doherty is equally honest about his motivations on this album, while infusing it with a romantic sensibility that stops things from getting unpleasantly transactional.
• Pete Doherty live review — you can't help but be charmed
Prêtre de la Mer and Stade Océan, eulogies to Doherty's local priest and Normandy's football stadium respectively, take inspiration from his adopted country and have a rollicking Gallic quality, equal parts maudlin and celebratory. Sometimes Doherty's attempts to write his way out of trouble reek of desperation — Fingee is a bit of nonsense poetry about not much at all — but in the main there is ragged appeal, as Doherty has matured from public enemy No 1 to an ageing roué. It's a role that suits him. (Strap Originals)★★★★☆
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The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
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The Sun
22 minutes ago
- The Sun
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The Sun
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