“I gave my nights up for old songs, sound better alive
I gave my life over to old songs, sound better alive”
The Libertines icon recently released his latest single, ‘Felt Better Alive’, via his label Strap Originals. It is the lead single from the upcoming fifth studio album of the same name, due May 16th.
*image credit: Bridie Cummings
The flourishes of skiffle and slide guitar suit Doherty’s down but not out image with a poetic magic that few can authentically compete with. Alongside the strings, it allows a mournful Doherty to build up an intense narrative before his melody melts all life’s woes away.
Nods to ‘What Katie Did’ and ‘Delany’ sonically toy with his glorious and checkered past on the most textured record within his solo cannon to date. The strings, at points, have a lost-at-sea isolation which plants you in his reality, whereas, lyrically, he seeks to reaffirm his younger self’s dreams and notions of “what might have been”. It’s a juxtaposition that seems a natural fit for his romanticism. However, for those who’ve followed the course of his Albion, it comes loaded with tortured imagery and regret.
As he decrees, “I’d always planned to sing in a sweet and soulful way, as only cowboys can!” Doherty transcends music. Like a bird singing just because it can, Doherty finds the sweet spot between a free soul and one trapped by the past.
After a career-redefining year with The Libertines in 2024, the good ship Albion looks set to sail into more glorious sunsets with its chief troubadour in great form.