Baxter Drury

Happy Soup Regal Recordings***

There's only so many times you can reference a musician's famous musician dad, so here it is one last time: Baxter Dury is Ian Dury's son. With three albums, however, the 39-year- old is well able to hold his own. Happy Soupis a collaboration of sorts with Australian singer Madelaine Hart, who colours in Dury's deadpan drawl with chic backing vocals, best heard amid the languid throb of The Sunand on retro-sounding pop of Claire. But Dury gives Happy Soupits flavour, his personality filling its melancholic crevices with witty spoken word lyrics ( Leak at the Disco), minimal toy-keyboard sounds and sharp ska-pop balladry (Isabel). Too uneven to satisfy everyone, perhaps, but as a complete album it has its salty charms. See baxterdury.com

Download tracks: Isabel, Picnic on the Edge