The Libertines have been flexing their rap skills for their new album.
The ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ rockers have been busy working on their long-awaited follow-up to 2015 album ‘Anthems for Doomed Youth’, and co-frontman Pete Doherty has revealed he and bandmate Carl Barat recently channelled their inner Beastie Boys and Derek B in the studio.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired Column about their hip-hop-inspired session, Pete said: "Carl [Barat] turned up and said: ‘Right, I’ve got this drum beat, it’s a bit like the Beastie Boys.
"Me and you are going to go in the booth and we’re just going to spit some bars, Pete."
Indie star Pete, 40, has been a long-time fan of late British star Derek – the first rapper to appear on ‘Top of the Pops’ – and his only record ‘Bullet From a Gun’, which he played on repeat when it was released in 1988, when he was just a boy.
And it paid off, as the Babyshambles star amazed Carl with his impressive flow.
He continued: "So when I was eight I had this Derek B record, ‘Bullet For A Gun’, that I listened to over and over again and no one knows these rhymes and I got them all up there.
"So I went in and I was coming out with all these amazing lines, everyone was going: ‘Wow, what’s that?’
"I was like: ‘I don’t know, they just came out."
The new record is being produced by The Prodigy’s touring guitarist Olly Burden.
It may be a while before fans hear new material from the record though, as Carl has been busy training kids in martial arts and he also recently put out an advert for musicians-and-actors for a mystery project.
The pair are based at their Margate hotel-come-studio The Albion Rooms in Kent, South East England, but the band’s other co-frontman has been attending training sessions in London.
Pete said: "Carl has been training for a while now at a mixed martial arts place in Stoke Newington, he goes with his boys.
"I think he’s building an army, he always used to talk about that, he’s got all these kids now and he’s training them up."
Carl is on the lookout for a "male bassist, male guitarist, male drummer and a frontman" for a new project called The Heartless.
He shared a poster which he described as a "casting call", and he stated the band members "must be able to play and act".
The post, which was also shared on The Libertines’ social media platforms, features the 41-year-old musician wearing a pair of sunglasses, and also encourages potential candidates to email TheHeartlessPeople@gmail.com if they think they have the suitable credentials.
The Libertines flex rap skills in the studio
