It’s hard to quantify the mix of excitement and apprehension I felt in the lead up to the latest Libertines album. My 20-odd year musical love affair with Pete and Carl always makes me wonder if these things will actually come to fruition, but now, it’s here and this is what I think.
All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade has long term Libertines fans breathing a small sigh of relief. You can feel the band are in a good place. They’re still the Libs, but Pete’s probably gonna rock up on time and not throw a drink in your face this time around. Whispers of Up the Bracket creep through in songs such as Run Run Run and I have a Friend – with their heavy drums and melodic guitars, 2004 with a side of 2020s politics. That Pete and Carl chemistry that makes this band so magical still shines (the end of Songs They Never Play on the Radio offers a beautiful glimpse of this), and it’s a thrill to see that nearly 30 years from the band’s conception, Carl, Pete, John and Gary can still sit down in a (Albion) room together and produce magic.
It’s missing some of the chaos of previous albums, though perhaps mirroring life, with bridges being mended and Pete finding that much needed stability after all these years. What replaces it is the vulnerability of Pete’s more recent work, with Night of the Hunter and Man with The Melody showing a deeper side of Pete and Carl’s individual struggles throughout the years. The not needing to hide exclusively behind the brash in your face front man exterior of years gone by further evidences the healing journey that has happened. The result is a beautiful mishmash of an album, representing, for perhaps the first time, who this band are as whole people. While tinged with regret and sorrow at times the album isn’t overly nostalgic.
It’s a well-done, top form album from arguably the most iconic band of the indie sleaze era. Is this a new chapter in the bands history, where they’re working together, travelling in the same direction instead of runaway trains colliding on their way to their next calamity? I certainly hope so.
Listen here:https://open.spotify.com/album/0RQPuyaKyrEG8lSkl089zC?si=bmC6qCHjTBKIFYEUJ4LVFQ
Get the album here: https://thelibertines.tmstor.es/