Pete Doherty has said that the Libertines’ new album is a chance to finally record old material properly and declared that the band “are still on a path to Arcadia”.
In the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands now and available digitally, Doherty discussed new material from Karma Studios in Thailand, where the band are currently recording. The Babyshambles frontman recently left a rehabilitation facility in nearby Chon Buri after completing treatment for his drug addictions.
“We always had the tunes but we threw away so many,” Doherty said. “Some sneaked out as internet giveaways or they weren’t recorded properly. So this is a chance for us to make a record rather than somebody just stapling loads of bits together.”
Asked if the band can live up to their old material, Doherty added: “I can’t say that I’ve been able to listen properly to what we did, because some part of me doesn’t want to engage with it. But whilst I’ve been clean I’ve tried to listen to some of it. If we can pick up from where we left off 10 years ago, fuck what anyone else thinks.
“We’re still on a path to Arcadia. That’s all that matters to me.”
The Libertines plan to release their new album this year. The band released a short video last month that showed them signing a record deal with Virgin/EMI in Thailand in lieu of the release. Carl Barat had previously stated that he was visiting Doherty in Thailand and that the pair had “five new tunes on the workbench”.
The Libertines released their last studio LP – 2004’s self-titled second album – through Rough Trade and have played a series of shows since last year’s second reunion including a headline show at London’s Hyde Park and three nights at Alexandra Palace.