Baxter Dury - I Thought I Was Better Than You (LP)

Out in June 2023 on Heavenly Recordings, Baxter Dury’s I Thought I Was Better Than You is the sort of tight, slyly melodic record that sneaks up on you before you realise you’ve had it on repeat for a week. Dury has spent two decades refining a style that sits between spoken word confession and pop elegance, and this one leans into that balance with a sharper autobiographical bite. He brought in producer Paul White, best known for left-of-centre hip hop work with artists like Danny Brown, and the partnership adds a wiry swing to the grooves. You get crisp drums, rubbery bass and synths that flicker like neon, all in service of words that feel lived in.

The singles set the tone. So Much Money swaggers with bitter humour, Dury skewering status and insecurity with the raised eyebrow of someone who knows the game a little too well. It is catchy in that Baxter way, all earworm hooks and deadpan delivery, but there is a bruise under the polish. Aylesbury Boy cuts even closer to the bone, an autobiographical piece that looks back at youth and class with clear eyes. It is not nostalgic so much as unflinching, and the production gives him space, a spare beat and those cool, airy harmonies that have become a hallmark of his records.

Those harmonies matter. Long-time vocal foil Madeline Hart threads silvery lines through the songs, often answering or undercutting Baxter’s baritone with a kind of empathetic chorus. It is the classic Dury dynamic, the hard truth and the sweet relief arriving together. When the arrangements bloom, they do so with finesse rather than bombast, and you can hear how White’s hip hop sensibility meets Baxter’s louche art-pop in the details, the clipped snares, the filtered keys, the bass that nudges the lyric forward.

The writing here is some of his most candid. He peppers the verses with scenes that feel like postcards from messy years, sly references to a famous surname, and the awkwardness of growing up adjacent to glamour but nowhere near security. That push and pull has always been part of his world, given he is the son of Ian Dury, but this time it is foregrounded with a clarity that gives the album its spine. There is gallows humour, sure, but also an adult reckoning, the sort that turns reminiscence into craft rather than therapy.

If you came in through The Night Chancers in 2020, you will hear continuity, the late-night mood, the sly turns of phrase, the almost cinematic pacing. The difference is how direct this feels, less baroque, more pointed. The songs are lean and they keep moving, rarely breaking the spell. It is a short record that plays like a complete story, and that restraint pays off. No filler, just a steady run of vignettes and hooks that would fit on a rainy tram ride or a 2 am kitchen dance.

Critics heard it too. The Guardian and NME both praised the album on release, calling out the sharp writing and the way Dury’s talk-sung style has matured into something unmistakable. It is not a reinvention, more a confident tightening of everything he does well, and it lands with the assurance of an artist who knows his lane and keeps repainting it in better colours.

Vinyl is a great way to live with this one. I Thought I Was Better Than You vinyl gives the low-end a bit more warmth, which suits the beats and those hushed harmonies. If you are digging through a Melbourne record store or browsing vinyl records Australia wide, keep an eye out for it alongside earlier Baxter Dury albums on vinyl, since his catalogue plays beautifully as a set. And if you prefer a click over a crate dig, it is easy to buy Baxter Dury records online, including this album and past gems.

Fans who have followed him from Len Parrot to Prince of Tears will recognise the voice, the wryness, the soft glow that sits behind the bite. New listeners will find an album that introduces itself quickly and lingers kindly. It is adult pop in the best sense, clever without being arch, intimate without oversharing. Call it a late-night keeper. And if you are the sort who likes to alphabetise your shelves, slide this next to your other Baxter Dury vinyl and let it grow roots.