Hassall, John (The Libertines) & The April Rainers - John Hassall & The April Rainers

John Hassall: "These 10 songs are the ones that survived, grew and took on a life of their own. There's no way of telling if a song will make it until the end. That Pale Lantern in my opinion, started off as a rank outsider and then turned into one of the strongest songs on the album. Lessons were learnt from Wheels to Idyll and a new musical development runs through it. Whereas the last album was recorded pretty much live. The new album maintains similar classic songwriting and pop sensibilities, though with more complex arrangements and production.”

Most of the songs were cowritten by John and longtime poet collaborator, Steev Burgess, exploring memories of school days, journeys and adventures, fading dreams, ancient empires and even somebody’s trinket collection. Burgess, who has known Hassall for many years, wrote the lyrics to lead single, Miracles, a sort of Ballad of John and Line. Libertines band mate, Peter Doherty, is also involved with a co-writing credit on Doing Time.

John Hassall has released Four albums with the Libertines - ‘Up The Bracket’ (2002), ‘The Libertines’ (2004), ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth’ (2015) and the number one album ‘All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’ (2024). And one album with Yeti ‘The Legend of Yeti Gonzales’ (2008).