Baxter Dury, son of much father Ian

Born in London in 1971, Baxter Dury carries a cumbersome legacy in his genetic and artistic heritage: he is the son of Ian Dury, the charismatic frontman of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and cult figure of English rock of the Seventies and Eighties (among his hits “Sex & drugs & rock’n’roll”, “Hit me with your rhythm stick” and “Billericay Dickie”), who passed away in 2000 at just 58 years old.

The relationship with his father had a double influence on his career. On the one hand, the creative environment in which he grew up fueled his penchant for performance and storytelling; on the other hand, Baxter worked for a long time to distinguish his own voice from his father’s, choosing a much drier, more ironic and introspective approach compared to his father’s explosive energy.

His solo debut in 2002 with “Len Parrot’s Memorial Lift” introduced him to the public as an outsider: a lo-fi, spoken word, literary record, followed three years later by “Floor show”. For years Dury remained a cult artist until, with “Happy Soup” (2011), did not consolidate a larger fan base. In subsequent works (“it’s a pleasure”, 2014; “Prince of Tears”2017; “The night chancers”, 2020 and “I Thought I Was Better Than You” (2023), continued his expressive path with songs that mix the pleasure of listening with ironic and biting social observations.

In the fall of 2025 Dury published “Allbarone”his ninth studio album, again on the Heavenly Recordings label and with Paul Epworth producing.

The album includes nine songs in which Dury recounts scenes of nightlife, complicated relationships, metropolitan characters with his typical irony but with an unprecedented liveliness.

Here are two songs from “Allbarone”, the title track and “Schadenfreude”, as a taste of the album.