Down in Albion

Down in Albion is the debut album by Babyshambles, Pete Doherty’s post-Libertines band.

Down in Albion was released on November 14, 2005 on Rough Trade Records, although it was leaked on to the Internet on October 19, 2005. Produced by Mick Jones, Down in Albion contains a rerecorded version of their second single “Killamangiro” as well as a reggae track, “Pentonville”. The inclusion of “Albion” is controversial among fans, due to the song’s history as a fan favorite from the days of The Libertines. Down in Albion is intended to be a concept album, telling the tale of a beauty and a beast. The album received mixed reviews on release, with some journalists feeling that it sounded “lazy”, suffered from bad production and failed to live up to the standard of Doherty’s previous material (a few of the tracks on this album made their debut on various sessions recorded by The Libertines). The first track, “La Belle et la Bête” (French for “Beauty and the Beast”), features the vocals of Doherty’s then-girlfriend Kate Moss, and “Pentonville” was written by Doherty and The General, a friend he met whilst an inmate in Pentonville Prison. The album was seen as a move away from The Libertines’ style of music. The artwork for the album was created by Doherty.