THE LIBERINES

BY CARL MARSH

NEW ALBUM ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN ESPLANADE

THE LIBERTINES RELEASE THEIR FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM ENTITLED, ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN ESPLANADE. THE RELEASE MARKS THE BAND’S FIRST NEW ALBUM IN NINE YEARS.

On All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, the quartet of unlikely lads have gathered from their new-found homes in France, Denmark, Margate and London to solder a strongest-ever internal bond, and scale new creative heights resulting in the best music of their extraordinary career so far. The albumnamed as a nod to their hotel’s street address and their enduring love of Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark anti-war novel – is an unequivocal triumph.

Opening the album, ‘Run Run Run’ is quite a statement track. At what point in the writing process did it appear?

Pete Doherty - I can remember that moment, we were in the studio at Margate and we realised pretty quickly that we didn’t have enough stuff that we’d written together. So then we had to start pulling out songs that we’d written for our side projects as Carl had asked me if I had any, I said, “Yeah, I’ve got a couple”, I asked him the same thing, and he said he’d also got a couple. So he played me his, and I played him mine, and ‘Run Run Run’ was either one of the ones that “he” was saving or “I” was saving. And he added a couple of lines to it! [Laughter]

Carl Barât - Oiiiii, you cheeky sod! But yeah, I was playing that on the road with my other solo band, but we changed it all up.

Pete - As soon as I heard it, I thought I wasn’t so sure about this as he’d played it to me acoustically, and I feel the lyrics are some of the best that he’s ever written. Yet, he didn’t get it over as he mumbled it. And then... I heard a demo of it and I could listen to all the lyrics, and it was a bit more upbeat, and I said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why didn’t you play it to me like this? Why did you mumble it?” It was as if he didn’t want me to use it.

Carl - No, it wasn’t like that. It was literally like, “Go on. Turn out your pockets. What have you got? I know you’ve got songs. [Laughter]

So, the album is a combination of songs already in hand, amongst new ones added once you’ve all got to the recording studio?

Carl - I think we were writing for the album long before we were officially writing for the album. As we gravitated together more in our day-to-day lives, the album became a possibility and a reality. At that point, everything we were writing started to be geared subconsciously towards the record. We went to Jamaica and did a bit of writing and we got some beauties out there. I mean, if you were to tot up the value for writing for those particular lines in the songs, you might have struggled to get them through management, but as it happened, it was necessary, spiritually, for us to go out there and do our thing.

Pete - It’s very important. It [the new album] wouldn’t have happened if we’d done anything less. I think these songs are better than anything anyone else is writing at the moment. The ‘Mars To Liverpool’ song by Liam [Gallagher] & John Squire sounds all right. Would you say the same thing, Carl?

Carl - You can’t say it’s better than what anyone is writing unless you know what everyone’s writing. Nobody says that anymore.

Pete - So, I’m not allowed to say what I believe? It’s what I believe.

Carl - I love that you believe that, but that becomes a headline really quickly, and then it just becomes very crass, and people get pi$$ed off.

Pete Doherty - There could be an argument in the papers where they’d say: “Pete’s got a big head; he thinks the songs are the best in the world. And Carl pleads modesty or something. The juries out!” [Laughter]

Carl - You can say that if you like.

By going to Jamaica, it sounds like it was more about focusing on re-gelling that songwriting creativity as a pair?

Pete - I don’t think so. I feel we’re both pretty creative anyway. We could just sit around and be creative all day, every day, really quickly, making soundscapes, you know, even comedy scripts. Still, when it comes to actually writing and crafting songs that are going to creep into people’s ears, brains, hearts, and souls, and get right down to the f**king toenails, then yeah, we did have to focus on that.

It’s this endless quest to see if we could write the perfect pop song. We’ve never been stationary, we know that some people love our songs but still feel like we have yet to get the recognition we deserve.

Carl - We needed to go and be together again without any distractions, be it the people we work with or people just hanging around.

Pete - We went to the ‘Fountain of Youth’.

Carl - We did. It didn’t work, did it? I came back looking older! [Laughs]

Was there any pressure from the label to get this album out on time?

Pete - There was no pressure from the label, but there was a little bit of pressure from ourselves.

Carl - I think we all want this album to be the best it can be. I want it to be great. And you’ll do everything you can to give it the birth into this world it deserves.

Is this new album the one you’re most proud of seeing as you’re all - as Carl told the NME “You’re facing in the same direction”?

Carl - Right now, I feel as proud as I did... I think I was too insecure to be proud of the first record [Up the Bracket - 2002], but personally, I feel prouder of this record than I have done with anything we’ve done yet.

Pete, would you say you’re most proud of this new one?

Pete - First of all, I think these new songs have got a hell of a lot of competition. They’ve got to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with ‘Death On The Stairs’ and ‘Time for Heroes’ and all these songs, even though they are decades old, they still give the old “frissons” [French for chills], do you know what I mean?

We wrote them all in a studio, recorded them live and then went away for months. Now we’ve come back playing them, and the fact that they are each standing their ground and we’re able to do them justice would suggest that, yeah, I am really proud of it. I think this is the first time we actually sat and listened to the recording together in a car. We did it the other day, and I was thinking how long it would take for one of us to go: “Oh, I didn’t like that bit. I don’t like this bit.” But it didn’t happen, which is unusual. We listened to it all the way through and then wanted to hear it all again. I think that speaks louder than the question itself.

Visit thelibertines.tmstor.es to purchase

You can follow The Libertines across their socials: www.instagram.com/thelibertines www.facebook.com/thelibertines www.threads.net/@thelibertines www.youtube.com/@TheLibertinesofficial www. tiktok.com/@thelibertinesofficial

All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade is available on CD, deluxe CD, 12” vinyl in limited edition coloured variants, deluxe double vinyl cassette and digital download.

YOUR DOSE OF TEA Tailor Maid

Hey Spring Chickens, what’s been clucking?

Tailor Maid here, with your bimonthly dose of Tea. A lot has happened since we last talked. I’ve been all over the UK And Ireland with work. I’ve taken my drag with me to Italy with BPerfect and to Manchester for Saint Patrick’s Day and Easter has come and gone. I hope you all gorged yourselves on lots of chocolate eggs and celebrated the big man coming back from the other side in what ever way you seen fit. (But let’s face it, these days Easter is all about the chocolate).

At the time of writing this article, I’m sat here listening to the oddly satisfying, and calming sound of rain pelting against my window. Rain in Belfast… Groundbreaking. At least the longer days are here now that the clocks have gone forward. All 2 days of our traditional Irish Summer are on the way, and I can’t wait. Yet it does make me wonder what month they will fall into this year. May/ June? Who knows! Global warming is here and its consistently playing havoc with a gal’s ability to dress appropriately no matter the month.

Even with the dull weather there is a lot to be looking forward to this year. A lot of firsts for my little drag career that I’m absolutely delighted about, so grab a coffee stop scrolling for a minute and read on to find out all the salacious details.

Saint Patrick’s Day and Cosmoprof Italy

Before I get into what’s coming up, I just want to recap some highlights from March.

I had a busy wee month with a grand total of one day off, which was spent sleeping. Oh, the glamour. As well as my full-time job at BPerfect I had 3 drag brunches in Happy’s in Dublin, hosted a Mother’s Day event for the fabulous Erin Mc Gregor and Denise Phillips from Voduz and headed back to Cruz 101 in Manchester for a very special Saint Patricks Day performance.

depending on which way you look at it. I was a lady of the deepest night, for one night only. I can’t be making that a regular occurrence. I need my Beauty sleep.

Less than 36 hours after I returned from Manchester, I hoped on a few more planes with the BPerfect crew to travel to Bolonga Italy for the Biggest Cosmetics trade show in the world.

Manchester and the team at Cruz were great craic as usual, the night was called Queen Supreme, I was headlining, and I performed a very Irish mix of tracks that went down a storm. But the thing was…my 1st performance was at 3:45AM. It was the perfect way to welcome in Saint Patrick’s Day, but also way past my bedtime. It was kinda fierce though, it was my latest or earliest performance yet

Cosmoprof brings together, factories, retailers, suppliers and brands who are all looking for innovation and business opportunities in the cosmetics industry. It took place over 4 days and had over 240,000 attendees this year plus one very glamorous drag queen. Moi!

The days were long, but the tuck was tight. I felt like an absolute princess in a custom BPerfect gown from Call me Sophia. Complete with disco ball crown and necklace. Glamour at its finest. It was my duty to host the Bperfect stand and welcome everyone who visited, to entertain, pose and strut the purple carpet on the daily. I definitely got the steps in, but alas I didn’t loose any weight, because the food was INCREDIBLE! Pizzas, pastas, chesses and lots of wine. #yum What a TREAT!

Marina Summers Tour

Now on to the exciting stuff. I am beyond thrilled to announce that I will be hosting Marina Summers UK Tour with DFIU Events in May this year. Taking place over 11 days in 8 cities, we will be visiting Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland and performing in some absolutely iconic venues. I’m really looking forward to the Clapham grand in London on the 30th of May, It’s a venue I’ve always wanted to perform in. We will be joined by an amazing roster of local talent in each city to complete the show line up, and I can’t wait to meet and perform with each one of them.

I’m looking forward to living my tour life fantasy, driving up and down the UK in a tour bus with the crew. It’s been a dream of mine to go on a tour since I started drag and now here we are. Its big responsibility to host the show each night but something I am totally up for. This is what I do!

If any of you watched Drag Race Philippines or the recent series of Drag Race UK versus the world then you will know how much of a powerhouse Marina is. This tour is going to be Lit to the tit! Yeoooooo!

Stafford Pride

Pride season is starting, which means summer is on its way. Normally I love a good pride day out with my friends drinking and dancing the day into night. But this year I will be attending one for a very different reason. I can’t wait to join my drag sisters across the pond in Stafford to co – host my first pride event in Stafford on Saturday the 10th of August. Its Stafford’s very first pride event/ parade and I am excited to be part of this historic event. Its going to be an absolute blast.

Tina Burner and Baga Chipz

my drag life with all the other responsibilities in my everyday life and work. Yes, sometimes it is tough, exhausting even, but the big rewards in life don’t come to those who don’t put the graft in. I’m not shy in working for what I want or putting the effort in. I’ve just had to be smart about how and where I choose to work to make sure my drag work doesn’t impact on other areas of my life too much.

I feel that I have found what is best for me and that’s performing during the day at drag brunches. I usually do 4/5 brunches a month depending on what month it is, as well as my other gigs. With a brunch, I can do my thing, perform, entertain, act stupid and still be home in time for a Chinese to spend some time with my dogs and partner. It’s ideal for me.

If you fancy it, you can catch me at Margot in Belfast or if you are travelling to Dublin you can catch me in Happy’s. Check my socials for dates and details of which dates I’m doing. You will have a scream guaranteed.

As usual thank you so much for reading and for catching up with me, and I hope to see some of you at an upcoming gig soon!

Loads of love

Tailor xoxo

Get your tickets for Marina Summers Tour @ www.dfiuevents.com

On Thursday the 18th of April, I will be joining the fabulous Tina Burner and Baga Chipz presented by DFIU Events and Taboo in the Mandela Hall with my fabulous drag sister Wicked White for a camp aul time. Baga and Tina are combining their individual tours to bring us a showstopping double headliner show and I can’t wait to see what they’ve cooked up.

Brunch, Brunch, Brunch

In the past year, I feel that I’ve really found my rhythm and flow with balancing

Get your tickets for Tina Burner and Baga Chipz @ www.taboopresents.com

You can also find Tailor Maid on Instagram @totally.tailor Bookings on Instagram or via email jamesmcguigan@me.com.

Just one month before in inaugural causeway pride a hoax device was left outside the home of a local councillor wrapped in a pride flag. It was left to try and scare us back into closets. But we won't go back.

Last August we proudly stood and said: We’re here, We’re Queer And We aren’t going anywhere. This year things haven’t changed. The recently published Cass review serves as a reminder as to why we can never take our rights for granted and why ultimately pride remains a protest and a necessary one.

They won’t stop trans rights, if they succeed they will continue pushing until all our rights are rolled back so we must continue to stand as one, we must continue to support LGBTQIA+ activists and allies both at home and elsewhere.

Causeway pride exists to honour the legacy of Mark Ashton whose hand of solidarity helped bring about one of the biggest shifts in LGBTQIA+ rights here in the United Kingdom and so we reach out in solidarity to all those in need.

Growing up queer during the troubles must have been a really traumatic experience. It takes a special kind of person to be able to take that trauma and turn it into something beautiful and to ignite a passion in those around you that continues to burn long after your passing.

We hope that you will join us during pride month and on August 3rd for the Causeway coasts first ever Pride Parade as we remember him and we remember all those queer kids gone too soon. But also as we stand proud so that others know they are not alone. And we make the causeway coast a truly inclusive place

Riley

McCahon Causeway Pride Co-Chair

Standing on the north strand brings so many people a joyous and fresh perspective, a sense of self and calmness and fun. For many years, people who were different had a choice: to try to hide some of their identity and fit in or to leave. I love the serenity of Portrush, but, for many people, and for many years, people had to leave our rural areas as they did not feel comfortable.

Mark Ashton left here in the late 1970s. I cannot imagine how tough it must have been to leave such a beautiful place. He did so because it was a criminal offence to be gay here. Times have changed: the squeaky wheel of progress has achieved many rights for a lot of us. We still do need acceptance in rural areas and this is the magic of our rural prides. While they may not have all the noise and glitter of the city ones, rural prides are more special. They are about local people coming out to show other local people they are accepted.

My favourite bit of activism from Causeway Pride in 2023 was a shopkeeper. I don’t know his name. He had put some sticks of rainbow rock beside the till. That was a sign I was welcome, a sign that Mark would’ve been welcome, a sign young LGBTQIA+ people are welcome. Very much looking forward to the solidarity and joy of Causeway Pride 2024.”

Jude Copeland Chair – Portrush for Mark Ashton Campaign