In August 1997, a young teenager named Pete Doherty was interviewed on television outside His Master’s Voice, Oxford Street. He shared his thoughts on Oasis’s eagerly awaited third album, “Be Here Now,” and his opinion of the band. Pete later co-founded The Libertines (Originally The Strand) with his flatmate Carl Barât, although their names and band name were unknown. The band had a history of members leaving and returning before eventually signing with the infamous Rough Trade in 2001. Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell briefly served as a bassist for the band. The drummer, Paul Dufour, was sacked by their female manager, Banny Pootschi, for being ‘too old.’ An American-born Brit named Gary Powell was recruited to play on their debut album, “Up the Bracket,” released a year later.

The band was known for performing guerilla gigs, inviting fans to their flat to watch them perform, often causing trouble with the police. During this period, they experimented with various drugs, including cocaine, crack, heroin, and cannabis. Pete and Carl’s friendship was also unstable, swinging from best mates to enemies, reflected in their 2004 self-titled album, especially in their monumental anthem, ‘Can’t Stand Me Now,’ and ‘Don’t Look Back into the Sun.’ Unfortunately, the band split the same year due to infighting between Pete and Carl.

Pete later formed Babyshambles a year before The Libertines split, while Carl formed Dirty Pretty Things a year later. In March 2010, the band announced that they would reform and headline the Reading + Leeds festival in August, surprising fans as Pete and Carl had not spoken since the band split. The short reunion was a success, with thousands of fans flocking to the stage and several others watching on the BBC. The gigs are the main search results on YouTube for their live performances.

Carl stated in an interview two years later that he could see the band reforming again. Another two years passed when a cryptic picture of Hyde Park appeared on their Facebook page on April 20. The Barclaycard British Summer Time Festival then made an offer to Pete and Carl to perform on July 5 and close out Saturday. They accepted the offer, and a further surprise was in store when they announced they would perform three nights at Alexandra Palace in late September. I had the fortune of attending the final night with my friend Keano. Circa Waves supported them, and it was fantastic. We were absolutely fucked, but then so were Pete and Carl. I do not remember much of the gig, but we enjoyed ourselves. I have to watch videos of that night to remember just how good the performance was, and it is the band at their best. They were back, and you could feel the chemistry.

After those four successful gigs, Pete attended Hope Rehab Centre in Thailand. Once he completed his rehab, the band joined him in January 2015 to start writing the next album. The album was released later in the year and called “Anthems for Doomed Youth.” It topped the charts at No.3. The band has been together since, with Pete having a solo project from 2016 and Carl returning during hibernations to Dirty Pretty Things.

Now, regarding their newest album, it is unbelievable that it has been nine years since the band’s last release. They have been on the road regularly since their second reformation a decade ago. Their name, song titles, and albums all reference books. The new album, “All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade,” is no different and has no interludes.

The album opener is ‘Run Run Run,’ which discusses escaping the past over quintessential indie from the early 2000s, most notably The Strokes. ‘Mustang’ has the bass and drum sound that the band was known for in the early 2000s.

Pete takes over from Carl on ‘Have a Friend,’ which has the same structure as a typical Libertines track but lacks the punch instrumentally. ‘Man with the Melody’ is one of the slower tracks on the album, and Pete and Carl talk about facing their demons on this piano ballad complete with strings.

‘Night of the Hunter’ adds the band’s love of books to the mix, something the band is known for with tracks like ‘What Katie Did.’ They have a knack for turning books they have read into their original songs with nods to the book. The record teaser ‘Shiver’ departs from their indie/rock roots. It is more theatric and sounds quite evil before it fades out.

‘Be Young’ is my favourite from the album, and there are no prizes for guessing why. This is the band with their wall of sound, the sounds we have known since “Up the Bracket.”

The closer is ‘Songs They Never Play on the Radio’. This song sounds similar to ‘Music When the Lights Out’. When the pair trade off vocals, the delivery mimics that song, and so does the instrumentation. It is a good way to end the album, as the tempo is brought down.

In my opinion, “All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade” represents the band clean and sober. There is a more mature sound and less chaos than what you had on “Up the Bracket” and the self-titled record. “Anthems for Doomed Youth” was a bit calmer, but this one certainly has the lads discussing hard-hitting issues with less kick in the music. Hopefully, we will not have to wait another nine years for the next album.

I look forward to hearing how these new songs with a more mature approach go down on the tour, which is almost sold out.

Song recommendations: ‘Be Young’, ‘Song They Never Play on the Radio’, ‘Run Run Run’

8/10