Baxter Dury – Mr W4

Find “Mr W4” by Baxter Dury on plusfm, taken from the album “Allbarone“.

Label : Heavenly Recordings
© 2025 Heavenly Recordings under exclusive license to [PIAS]

Approaching fifty, Baxter Dury decided to reinvent himself, and it shows! The London dandy had already incorporated electronic elements into his elegant pop, but this time, he goes all in. Produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence + the Machine, Rihanna), Allbarone plunges headlong into club culture, with its driving beats (Schadenfreude), frenetic synth arpeggios (Kubla Khan), and distorted vocals (Mr W4).

With its prominent bass and brass section, only the song “The Other Me” seems to escape the album’s electro frenzy somewhat, like a nod to the old Baxter Dury. Lyrically and vocally, he also remains true to himself. The album opens with “Allbarone,” a song about a man sitting in the rain outside an All Bar One (a British cocktail bar chain), brooding over the end of a love affair.

In short, Dury still revels in dark, urban tales, which he delivers in a phlegmatic, Gainsbourg-esque spoken-word style. Another nod to Gainsbourg, in a mirror-like fashion: while Serge had the English singer Jane Birkin in his wing, Baxter now surrounds himself with the French singer Fabienne Débarre from the band Evergreen for the album’s numerous duets. Longtime Baxter Dury fans will certainly be taken aback by their idol’s ultra-electronic turn, but will quickly be won over by the quality of the result.

© Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

Baxter Dury – Mr W4