Pete Doherty hopes The Libertines will release new music in 2022.
The frontman has revealed he and his bandmates – Carl Barat, John Hassall and Gary Powell – decided to “hold off” their first studio effort since 2015’s ‘Anthems for Doomed Youth’, and though he has no idea “how or when it’s going to happen”, he’d like to think they can share something with fans before the end of the year.
Pete said: “At the end of the tour we did that ended last month, everyone was really upbeat by the fact that we were all still alive after the various quarantines and John coming and going. We were all really upbeat about the future, so I don’t know how or when it’s going to happen but I think it will.”
The indie legend – who is touring Europe with French musician Frédéric Lo this May – also teased one “cracker” of a song called ‘Mustang’.
He added to NME.com: “I like to think so. There was one song that was getting finished called ‘Mustang’, which was a cracker and definitely up there with the greats. I kept saying, ‘Let’s do it tonight’, but everyone was more keen to hold back. I really hope you get to hear it all this year.”
Co-frontman Carl previously admitted it was tricky finishing the record amid the global pandemic, with Pete living in France and bassist John in Denmark.
In an update on the LP, he said: “It’s been going well, but it’s been difficult with COVID. We started writing here, and that was going really well but John [Hassall, bass] is in Denmark and Pete [Doherty] is in France. It’s been a f***** to travel.
“We’re just waiting to get back on it, really. We’re all writing and it’s all positive. We’re just waiting to get back and lay stuff down, it’s just a matter of when. It would be nice if we could do it here. That would make a lot of sense. We’ve never been readier. We just need to get together and do it.”
The Libertines were working with The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett on their long-awaited new album in 2019.
The ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ hitmaker explained how they stepped “out of their zone” after their sessions with the ‘Firestarter’ hitmaker and record producer.
He said: “You can’t hurry it up but yeah, it’s [the album is] coming.
“We’ve been doing some really interesting stuff, working with Liam [Howlett] from The Prodigy, which on some tracks are out of the zone of the stuff we’ve done before.
“I think we’re taking a different approach where we just go in and everyone just does what they’re feeling in whatever style. We don’t limit ourselves.”
It was previously revealed that The Prodigy’s touring guitarist Olly Burden was also involved.