The Libertines release their hugely anticipated, critically adored fourth studio album, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, the band’s first new album in nine years.
To coincide with the album’s release the band have released a new state of the nation single entitled ‘Merry Old England’. On the latest single, Peter Doherty says: “It’s just wondering what immigrants who come here are gonna make of this place when they wash up on our shores, especially if they wind up sitting on the steps of a housing association flat in Margate.This country’s basically hard and unfriendly in a lot of ways, but I’d like to think that, there’s still a high chance for people to make their way on this island, to find their little corner of it and make it home, make England theirs, and evolve it.”
All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Dimitri Tikovoï (The Horrors/Charli XCX/Becky Hill) and recorded at The Albion Rooms in Margate. Recorded in just four weeks during February and March ’23 and finished over seven days at La Ferme de Gestein Studios in Normandy, with additional production and mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat (Lana Del Rey/Liam Gallagher/Paul McCartney). The album – named as a nod to their hotel’s street address and their enduring love of Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark anti-war novel – is an unequivocal triumph.
Listen to ‘Merry Old England’ by The Libertines on our QPR Fan Playlist on Spotify.
On All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, the quartet of unlikely lads – Peter Doherty (vocals/guitar), Carl Barât (vocals/guitar), John Hassall (bass guitar) and Gary Powell (drums) – have gathered from their new-found homes in France, Denmark, Margate and London to solder a strongest-ever internal bond, and scale new creative heights resulting in the best music of their extraordinary career so far.
In September 2022, Doherty and Barât decamped to Geejam in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Away from any distraction the chemistry between the infamous songwriting partnership began to bubble in earnest. Fast forward to February of the following year and Peter and Carl regrouped with rock solid knaves to the rhythm, John and Gary, at The Albion Rooms, and, says Doherty, “we really came together as a band. It was a moment of rare peace and unity, with all the members contributing.”
For Carl, the whole Libertines journey has been leading to this moment. “Our first record was born out of panic, and disbelief that we were actually allowed to be in a studio; the second was born of total strife and misery; the third was born of complexity; this one feels like we were all actually in the same place, at the same speed, and we really connected.”
Peter proclaims: “We’re over the moon, and the ball is in the back of the net… and I’m chuffed for the lads!” He adds, more seriously, “I feel like we’ve completed a cycle of some kind as a band, and finally now we can add these songs to the set list, because we’ve got some bangers in there. Now we’ve opened the hotel and used the studio ourselves and it’s all worked out – more Libertines records? I should hope so!”
