In the wake of The Libertines’ triumphant – and against all odds – return to form last year with the release of the raucous All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade (which kept Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter off the top of the UK charts), Pete Doherty’s continuing his purple patch with a solo release that finds him showing his sweeter, cuddlier underbelly. Felt Better Alive finds him accessorising a quirky sequence of pretty ditties with graceful strings, a mournful trumpet and even a clarinet solo. On “Pot of Gold” – written for his infant daughter – the former wild man croons: “Hush my darling, oh don’t you cry/ Daddy’s trying to write you a lullaby/ And if that lullaby’s a hit, Dad can buy you loads of cool shit/ And forget about the time when they always tried to run me out of town.”
There are many nods to The Beatles on this record, from the gently weeping electric guitar on “The Day The Baron Died” through the “Rain”-esque rolling bass line of “Stade Ocean” to the jaunty nursery rhyme-via-musical hall styling of “Out of Tune Balloon”.
