The Libertines: Anthems for Doomed Youth | Album Review

Anthems For Doomed Youth
    
Artist: The Libertines
Genre: Rock
Label: Virgin EMI

So here we are. Eleven years after their last album, The Libertines return with 12 songs recorded in Thailand following Pete Doherty’s latest period of rehab.

On paper that doesn’t sound too promising, but the isolation – as well as the steady hand of pop producer Jake Gosling (One Direction, Ed Sheeran) – seems to have served them well.

Gosling has polished up the band’s signature ramshackle sound, but not too much, and there’s some maturity and no little humility in the songwriting.

After all, they are no longer early-20s oiks, and Pete and Carl's lyrics bear the scars of booze and drugs (Gunga Din, Iceman), celebrity (Fame and Fortune) and, on the title track, their own turbulent relationship.

READ MORE

The comeback may have been inevitable; its success, less so. On balance, they’ve pulled it off.