The Libertines Are “Going Progressive” On Their New Album, But It’s Still “Fucking Awesome”

The Libertines don’t want to scare you, but their first album in over a decade includes synths. That’s right, Pete Doherty and his band of rock n’ roll brothers have been experimenting with their signature sound, revealing that they’ve “gone progressive” on the long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s self-titled LP, The Libertines.

The newly reformed English rock act have been spending some time nestled away at Thailand’s Karma Studios, working with acclaimed Ed Sheeran and One Direction producer Jake Gosling on the new disc, which is slated for release later this year.

And in a recent interview with NME, bassist John Hassall has revealed that the full-length will feature both synths and piano, joking: “We’ve gone progressive… No, don’t get scared. It’s still The Libertines, but it would be weird if we came back and just did exactly the same thing.”

Doherty, meanwhile, has claimed that fans are “going to love” the new album, which is tipped to feature 11 tracks. “There’s a miracle aspect to actually getting it done and all getting together to do it,” he said. “We’re all really proud of it.”

Drummer Gary Powell also added his two cents: “I would have been really, really pissed off if we’d come back with a new album full of old stuff…” he said. “The last thing I wanted us to do was sound like we were back in 2004”.

Australian triple-threat producer, engineer and frontman of Sydney rock outfit The Dead Love, Stevie Knight, was also on hand for plenty of the action from the Thai recording studio, where he says rock n’ roll history was being created.

Knight, who is rumoured to have been jamming with Doherty on some of his upcoming solo material, also reckons fans are going to dig the new Libertines record.

“It’s absolutely not synth garbage. It’s very much rock n’ roll and it’s fucking awesome!” he said.

Ahead of the album’s release, The Libertines have also been confirmed as the headliners for both T In The Park and the Reading And Leeds festivals in the UK.

Check out some of the behind-the-scenes studio snaps we found on Stevie Knight’s Facebook page, below.

Watch: the Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now