The Libertines have shared a Shakespearean tale of blood and revenge entitled “Night of The Hunter.”
The track is taken from the band’s forthcoming fourth studio album, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, which is set to be released on March 8 via Casablanca/Republic Records. Check out the visual for “Night of The Hunter” below.
Says singer and guitarist Peter Doherty, “We got the title from Charles Laughton’s directorial debut Night Of The Hunter starring Robert Mitchum as a preacher with ‘LOVE’ and ‘HATE’ tattooed on his knuckles. The song’s about not staying ahead of the law. This fella doesn’t really know why his mate’s dead, but he’s got a feeling his mate had it coming to him. He f____d with the wrong people, and he stole something he shouldn’t have, and he got stabbed.
“So, he’s angry and hurt and he has to go and get revenge, so he does and that’s it for him, basically. Once he has stabbed the lad who stabbed his mate, that’s it for him. He lashed out in revenge and he knows they’re coming to get him and he’s not even going to try and run because he knows he’ll just be running forever.”
Carl Barât, who also plays guitar and sings, added, “I started writing a riff and it ended up sounding a bit like ‘Swan Lake,’ and everyone went, ‘Yeah!’ Then we got Peter’s theremin player in which took about a day to get in tune, then he played that sequence and it worked beautifully.”
The video for “Night Of The Hunter” was directed by Alex Brown (La Roux / James Blake) and shot in Cliftonville, Margate and at the Libertines’ hotel The Albion Rooms. It is the second installment in a series of Margate-themed videos, following on from first single “Run, Run, Run” which feature the characters from the songs (and the album cover artwork) from All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade.
All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade features eleven new Libertines songs and was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Dimitri Tikovoï (The Horrors/Charli XCX/Becky Hill) and recorded at The Albion Rooms in Margate.
