Does he ever get cynical? Cynical at what’s happened to where he came from? “There’s a sort of pastel-jumpered culture here. West London is slightly deprived of what it was”, he says. But when it comes to music, he’s anything but. He understands there is more to the pastel-jumpers, the indie kids, and the art schools than meets the eye. “I mean I’m pretty open-minded and encouraging. Especially music. If it’s a kid making music I’d never, ever say anything about that. I’m never dismissive about anyone else’s music I find it a bit too cruel”, he admits.

The album itself is produced by Paul White. In Baxter’s words “a freethinking dude, very relaxed, and a peaceful dude to be around”. It was White (Danny Brown producer and half of Golden Rules) who gave Baxter a kind of permission to create the record, whilst also becoming an architect hired to build the correct kinds of structures and platforms for Baxter to bounce off. “I had a lot of songs but he can make beats breathe and feel quite natural. He’s good at just letting things be. He doesn’t overthink it”.

On The Go

Although this time around, the roles were reversed, the scripts rearranged. A son was involved. Baxter’s son Cosmo. Baxter will always beat you to the punchline. He’ll answer his own questions and he’ll volunteer himself as the butt of the joke before you can. His ability to understand people’s perception of him (or who they believe he is) is what has kept his work consistently surprising and inventive for over two decades now. And while it’s his humour that draws you in, it’s his linguistic acrobatics that you stay for - a wild barrage of emotion, colour and off kilter scenes. While he has always sung with women (it’s kind of his thing) he takes it even further on this record, with an array of new female voices, including Eska Mtungwazi, JGrrey and Madeline Hart, singing as his subconscious. In some ways their voices dominate the record, occasionally giving Baxter only a few lines. Nevertheless, Baxter was born a main character. And, on often on this record, he becomes this heightened version of himself. The record also serves as a kind of extension to Baxter’s 2021 book, Chaise Lounge, in which he winningly recounted the story of his unique childhood. Not only does he expand the language of the book, using words to paint disconnected images

I Thought I Was Better Than You could almost be a concept album, Baxter scratching closer to the surface of himself than ever before, using voice, music and instruments as way of expression, freeing himself of complication through play and creativity, and making a record that sounds good. Baxter Dury, your instinct is always right, don’t change a thing and question everything.

Recommendations

On ‘Crowded Room’ there’s a line “Why am I condemned because I’m the son of a musician? / Because I don’t wash or you think I’m too posh?”... What feelings are you extrapolating there? The rambling, rummaging, dialectical comments that litter the album are open-ended ones, purposeful within the framework of how Baxter may view the world, but pointless in a way as those questions don’t really answer anything. “If you’re interested in how the world works, then you see it in a weird way. It’s nice to comment on it” he confirms.