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By now the English-speaking world and beyond have made their mind up about Pete Doherty and his musical endeavours. In fact, this review is almost redundant.
Divided into lovers or loathers and armed with pre-shaped opinions, each respective camp will either decry Babyshambles' latest album as a hollow means to fund Doherty's drug habits, or praise it as the latest instalment of musings from a poet that a generation turned into a messiah. It's somewhat ironic then that despite the polarity of opinion on Babyshambles, 'Sequel to the Prequel' is a slightly underwhelming album, offering up flashes of brilliance before they're swallowed into incoherency again.
Listen to lead single 'Nothing Comes To Nothing' below
What 'Sequel to the Prequel' noticeably lacks is any thread to bind together the different aspects at work on the album. At times Doherty's lyrics show glimmers of his old favourite motifs, with songs like 'Fall From Grace' and 'Farmer's Daughter' hazily painting images of the 'Albion' Doherty sought, or still seeks. However these are messily thrown in with songs devoted to channeling the band's other musical influences.
As stand alone tracks, riotous album opener 'Fireman' and reggae inspired 'Dr No' are strong, but within the confines of the album they catapult off each other with a strangely jarring effect. Perhaps Doherty feels as though he's earned his stripes as a great modern lyricist and that he can therefore utter anything, with the guarantee of his fans drinking it in as genius. This certainly seems the case for track 'Penguins', which quickly seems to evolve into some kind of ode to the perks of going to the zoo. Perhaps it's just charming.
As an album, 'Sequel to the Prequel' is less a coherent record than a mosaic of influences, musings and thoughts, to varying poetic effect - more what you'd expect from a band's debut album than a third album. Babyshambles offer enough songs that on their own show what the band is capable of at their best and their most unified. It's just a shame that they're somewhat lost in translation, be it through Doherty's vocals or through clashing influences, in an album that never quite lives up to what we know Babyshambles are capable of.
