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The Libertines sign to Virgin EMI, confirm 2015 LP
By Aly Barchi | Published on Monday 8 December 2014
Arcadia ahoy, the world’s indie-est band, The Libertines, now have ‘major label backing’ at last, having signed a deal with Virgin EMI Records last Friday. The label confirms that the band are writing songs for a third Libertines LP, which will be released in 2015.
The big contract-signing thing took place in Thailand, where Pete Doherty is staying at the Hope Rehabilitation Centre and, he recently said, is on the road to recovery from addiction to drugs. Doherty has, in collaboration with Hope, started a charitable organisation, the Pete Doherty Hope Initiative, to help raise money for the facility.
Speaking to press about his band’s latest label deal last week, Doherty said he “[didn’t] know what to say”. Then he said: “I’m so happy. It was a beautiful day”.
Bandmate-in-arms Carl Barat added: “After everything we have been through, The Albion sails on course again. I couldn’t be more excited”.
A similarly optimistic John Hassall was then heard to say: “For me this signals a new era and a new beginning for The Libertines”.
And giving credit to Virgin EMI president Mike Smith, Gary Powell says: “Having Mike working with the band was, and is, an important factor in the band’s ‘new’ evolution. He not only understands the band but he understands us all as individuals with an emotional dynamic to add to the overall picture which was a major factor in the band’s decision to sign with Virgin Records”.
Finally, livening things up a bit linguistically, Smith himself said: “The Libertines started an inferno that blazed through music at the start of the 21st Century and their reunion this year has been nothing less than spectacular. Carl, Pete, Gary and John are in the form of their lives and making some fantastic new music together. I am thrilled that Virgin EMI can be a part of their future”.
