Hamburg Demonstrations marks a departure for Pete Doherty: it’s perhaps the first record he’s put out that few people outside of his fanbase will be paying much attention to. With the endless soap opera surrounding the Libertines dimming down and the sound of rickety indie no longer in vogue, it feels very much like a record that can be judged on its own merits. Those merits – the just-about-held-together arrangements, muttered vocals and literary references – are not new ground for Doherty. But the Kinks-esque melodies are surprisingly tuneful and, during its hushed moments, Doherty proves himself a deft master of late-night intimacy: few things he’s written are as beautiful as the Amy Winehouse tribute Flags of the Old Regime. The truth is, he seems to suit life as an alternative songwriter on the fringes far more than he did a mainstream one in the limelight.
