by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Baxter Dury appears to be in an imperial phase of his artist development. Each album has presented vivid portraits or stories in his own very distinctive, and very direct voice, capturing nuggets of English and international life – and snippets from life on the road or in the studio.

Allbarone can sound like an exotic destination – Mexico, perhaps – or a chain of bars in the UK, depending on how you pronounce it! The double meaning appears to be intentional, as it also frames the humour Dury brings to his work, not to mention the music.

What’s the music like?

For this album at least, Dury is a fully fledged dance music artist – and he goes for the jugular with a set of powerful grooves that have hard hitting vocals to boot. Some – Schadenfreude, or Return Of The Sharp Heads, for instance – hit particularly hard, the former with a brilliant, brooding groove and a nugget of storytelling, the latter with hilarious consequences of bad language as Dury and guest vocalist JGrrey take down the Shoreditch loafers.

Paul Epworth is a great choice of producer, the foil to Dury’s humour, which ranges from scathing to lightly scabrous – and is compelling to a fault.

Other highlights include the vibrant Mockingjay, Kubla Khan, the prowling beats of Hapsburg and the winsome portrait Mr W4.

Does it all work?

It does. Dury doesn’t hang around, the album over in a flash, but its high points are many and the music is a winning mixture of euphoric and slightly manic.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. Allbarone is a triumph of plain speaking, both lyrically and musically. Safe to say that Dury has long shaken off the ‘son of Ian’ label, for his own personality is incredibly charismatic, his voice consistently compelling. As a result, the music punches with impressive weight, a remedy for our times.

For fans of… The Streets, Audio Bullys, BC Camplight, Underworld

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,667 – Wednesday 24 September 2025