The Libertines’ frontman Pete Doherty reveals that while in treatment he wrote some new material with a ‘warlord’s daughter’.
Just this week, the singer completed his full programme at a Thai rehab facility. He left the Hope Rehab centre in Bangkok, after being treated for his well publicised heroin addiction.
While in rehab he reflected on the damage drugs caused him, writing a confessional essay about his struggles with drugs and the negative impact they had on his life.
Upon leaving the facility Doherty seemed to be in great spirits. “Long before drugs, it was music that would raise my spirits or just make me want to live or believe in something. It’s a great new drug, being clean. It’s not really a drug at all – it’s finding myself. Drugs don’t make you more creative and one of the great things about being clean is that I’ll be able to fulfill that side of things (my creativity) … I feel as if something inside me is shifting.”
The singer spoke to Noisey about some of the new material he’d written while in rehab. “The thing is it’s quite a tranquil place, so I don’t like to make too much noise,” said Doherty.
“But I’ll say that I have rediscovered a few facets that have come back to life since I’ve been here and one of them is just enjoying playing guitar and learning songs I used to know backwards and inside out. Like old Lindisfarne and Stone Roses songs and just taking them and just shifting the chords about.”
“I’ve come up with some good riffs too. Like simple bass lines and I’m trying to get this warlord’s daughter to play drums for me but she’s off the radar at the moment. So hopefully we’ll have some new ideas when Carl next bounds into view in his bandana and leathers. A man who swore he’d never wear flip-flops! Although he doesn’t call them flip flops he calls them ‘sliders’.”
His bandmate Carl Barat visited Doherty in the Thai capital, the songwriting duo penned five new songs together for the band’s third album.
Speaking about the upcoming LP, Barat said: “We’ve only done bits and bobs on tour. We were both reminding each other of scores of tunes that we’d forgotten that had never seen the light of day. But Plan A is to write new things. There’s about five new tunes on the work bench at this stage and that’s just from having been in each other’s company, not even sitting down to write. One’s called ‘Woke Up Again’, but that’s a working title.”
The Libertines are expected to release new material in 2015, the band are planning to begin recording in Germany very soon.
