The Libertines Release New Single “Night of the Hunter” Featuring a Swan Lake-Style Theremin Riff

The Libertines are back with a new single from their forthcoming album All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade, accompanied by a cinematic music video as part two of a series. “Night of the Hunter” is moody and dark, with a much different vibe than the more fiery, danceable single “Run, Run, Run.” The initial video introduced the characters from All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade with a focus on the chaotic taxi driver, while the second video shifts to a young man staring down the barrel of prison time.

According to a statement put out by the band, per a report from Rolling Stone, the song was inspired by Charles Laughton’s 1955 film Night of the Hunter, which featured a priest with “Love” and “Hate” tattooed on his knuckles. The opening lyrics reference this, as Pete Doherty sings, “Love and hate / tattooed on the knuckles / round the handle of a blade.” The video opens with the young man getting mugged by two other boys, stabbing one of them, and fleeing the scene. He then wanders the streets of Cliftonville grappling with what he’s done.

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“The song’s about not staying ahead of the law,” said Doherty in a statement. “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—ed 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.”

Visually, the video is interesting as it ends with the boy caught by police. He begins to dance, executing some classical ballet moves that mirror the Swan Lake-esque riff at the beginning and end of the song. Guitarist Carl Barât spoke about that phrase, which was played on both a guitar and a theremin.

“I started writing a riff and it ended up sounding a bit like Swan Lake, and everyone went, ‘Yeah!’” he said. “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 idea of getting carted off for ten years is horrendous.” He concluded cryptically yet sagely, “The condemned man dies 1,000 times.”

Featured Image by YouTube/Jealous Films