Former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker sounds like he could be on E’s and Whizz judging by his beefy remix of Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ – the first single to be lifted from his new album Prince Of Tears which is out on October 27.
Speaking on the remix, Baxter said: “Jarvis, I guess, isn’t interested in doing things politely, this is a different song, possibly a better one.”
Well, he’s certainly got that right. The original version of the track is easily one of the best things that Baxter Dury has released. Driven by an insistent bass line that gets under your skin in just a few bars and augmented by sweeping Philly-type strings, it’s little wonder that the track has been garnering some impressive airplay support, albeit in a censored format with Dury’s more colourful phrases edited out.
But what of the remix? Our man Cocker has gone right back to the Old Skool with a remix that evokes the early 90s halcyon days of action-packed all-nighters and urban sunrises. The grooves are lolloping and swaggering. It’s such a gurner that you momentarily consider smearing your chest with Vap-O-Rub and heading out for a large one until you realise that it isn’t even lunchtime.
Meanwhile, Baxter Dury’s new album, Prince Of Tears, features a number of guest appearances that auger well for the new release. Seaford Mods’ Jason Williamson is on ‘Almond Milk’ and Rose Elinor Dougall features on ‘Porcelain’. Elsewhere, long-term collaborator Madelaine Hart proves backing vocals across numerous tracks.
The Prince Of Tears track listing is:
01. Miami
02. Porcelain
03. Mungo
04. Listen
05. Almond Milk
06. Letter Bomb
07. Oi
08. August
09. Wanna
10. Prince of Tears
“The album is full of little fictional snapshots based on actual experiences,” explains Baxter.
“They’re biographical film soundtracks for an imaginary film about myself, which is fictional. The man singing and speaking it all is unreliable; he can’t see the world properly. Its massively delusional, but because of that it’s also emotionally true.” Baxter Dury plays London’s Koko on November 29.
