It might be killing him, but whatever Pete Doherty was taking when he made Down in Albion -- the first album from his post-Libertines crew Babyshambles -- is doing wonders for his music.

Excised from the stellar Libertines for his fiendish crack habit (is there any other kind of crack habit?), Doherty pulled himself together well enough to write and record the 16 tracks that make up Down in Albion. The album, like its creator, is a truly frightening piece of work, unflinchingly chronicling Doherty's current stay in the depths of addiction.

Hophead that he is, Doherty can't always see the line between what's good and what's crap, and it's true that roughly a quarter of Down in Albion veers into doped-out excess. The rest is frequently some of the most brilliant, haunting rock music in a very long time.

Doherty seems fueled by his torment, and with his pop sensibilities relatively unharmed by his time 'round the pipe, the best bits of Down in Albion play like hymns shouted up from the gutter. It's more than a little scary to hear a man quite possibly one hit from death singing a song like "F*** Forever," but there's also probably more feeling in that song's four-and-a-half minutes than there's been in any pop music since Elliott Smith passed. I don't make that comparison lightly; I hope Pete sorts himself out before drugs take another one of music's brightest lights.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Don't die on us, Pete, while we're just starting to get to know you.

-- Reviewed by Paul Thompson