Going solo: Doherty’s back

March 16 sees the release of Pete Doherty’s debut solo album, ‘Grace/Wastelands’, along with an eagerly anticipated nationwide tour.

‘Grace/Wetlands’, even Doherty has admitted, started life not as a labour of love but a contractual agreement, his current record deal requiring a solo album.

However, with producer, Stephen Street, famed for working with bands such as The Smiths and Blur, and all but one track featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon on guitar, the album promises to be Doherty’s most cohesive yet.

The album’s lead single, ‘Last of the English Roses’, is a typical Doherty-crooned ode to an England which time has forgot. ‘Broken Love Song’ is another track gaining rave reviews, co-written with an old friend Wolman, it is a fantastic piano, tremolo and string laden affair, which could sit comfortably in the top 20 thanks to it’s memorable hook.

A lot of the album’s tracks have been floating around in various incarnations for some time but have never been anything more than rough studio demos or laptop recordings and Doherty recently equated ‘Grace/Wetlands’ to putting a messy desk in order.

The nationwide tour kicks off at Cardiff Uni on March 13th and makes it’s way to the North East on March 26th at the Newcastle Academy.

Although no specific details have been released regarding the tour, it promises to be a Doherty style bonanza, so expect new solo efforts, classic Libertines and Babyshambles tracks, potential special guests and most of all, expect the unexpected.