Beginning with drummer Gary Powell’s assertion that he was “the main one from The Libertines,” the video’s musical history continues with an announcement from Powell that, following Barat’s departure from the puppet show (i.e. the band itself), “quitting is some of us Libertines’ favourite hobbies.” He does go on to add, rather cheerfully, however, that “our second favourite hobby is reforming.”

A 30-second promo of the new episode has also been made available on the band’s official Twitter account, @libertines, a tweet that has generated 270 likes and over 50 retweets and likes in the two-and-a-half hours since going live today (June 29th) at 17:39 BST. Fresh content like this is sure to be welcomed among fans, who have already been treated to a digital drip-feed of archival footage from the band’s long and decorated career.

Using lockdown as the prime time to unlock the musical vaults, The Libertines have recently unearthed a recording of a London performance dating from 1999, three years before the release of their debut album Up the Bracket.

Featuring the band in some interesting outfits, and sporting rather more questionable haircuts, the early gig sees the band making the first footsteps of their musical career by playing a version of their single “Music When the Lights Go Out.” This would of course appear on their 2004 album The Libertines, but it makes for all the more fascinating to see it here live before The Libertines really, truly were The Libertines.

The new video was directed by award-winning narrative filmmaker Aella Jordan-Edge, whose films employ “metaphors and symbolism to explore emotions and the world around her” and have been seen everywhere from London to New York. The track was also announced on the band’s official Twitter account, @TheSnuts, in a June 11th tweet which is currently pinned to the top of their page.

Throughout August, the band can be seen performing in a number of Live from the Drive-In gigs, which the organisation’s official website has promised will be offering, “some of the biggest names in UK music … live on stage backed by a full concert production that you can enjoy all from your very own viewing zone. With movies and family events also to be added to the schedule, this will be a live experience like no other.”

Here is a list of upcoming dates and venues at which fans can catch a socially-distanced glimpse of the up-and-coming Scottish foursome:

08/08/2020 – Venue TBC, London

09/08 – Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln

11/08 – Teesside International Airport, Teesside

12/08 – University of Bolton Stadium, Bolton

13/08 – The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh [Sold Out]

15/08 – Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham

16/08 – Filton Airfield, Bristol

18/08 – Central Docks Liverpool Waters, Liverpool

19/08 – Resorts World Arena, NEC, Birmingham

20/08 – The National Bowl, Milton Keynes

22/08 -Leeds East Airport, Leeds

23/08 – Newmarket Racecourse, Newmarket

25/08 – The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh

Describing the moment he received a call from Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, whom Zimmer has long known, he says, “I never thought we would work together on something like that, so it was surprising just to get the call.” From there he contacted Marr and said, “‘I have two questions to ask you. First question is, what’s the only guitar part worth playing in a movie?’ And he said, ‘the Bond part’. And I said, ‘yeah right. Second question: Do you think I should do the movie and would you play the guitar part?’”

And here we are today, with their names attached to what is pegged to be the biggest cinematic release of the new decade. While Zimmer, using his official Twitter account @HansZimmer, had retweeted this post from the official James Bond page back in mid-February, it seems that we are now looking at old news. Of course, this is no great surprise, for No Time to Die is just one of the many films to have seen their releases, or entire productions, delayed by the world-stopping impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this original March 27th release date for the film’s hotly anticipated score will likely be pushed back to coincide the film’s November opening day.

The official soundtrack to #NoTimeToDie by @HansZimmer will be released on 27 March. Joining Zimmer on scoring the soundtrack are @Johnny_Marr and @SteveMazzaro. pic.twitter.com/34xpzw2bWI

— James Bond (@007) February 19, 2020

This is affirmed by Amazon’s product page for the upcoming album, where it states on the CD’s product details as, indeed, having been released on November 13, a day after the proposed UK premiere. Quoted in an interview with record label Decca, who will be publishing the soundtrack this year, the film’s director Cary Joji Fukunaga is said to be “beyond excited that Hans is scoring No Time To Die. The music of Bond has always been iconic and I’ve already witnessed Hans adding his touch of genius to the Bond legacy.“

Don’t wanna die on a conference call / Don’t wanna work part-time at the mall / Wanna be seen with an elegant lady / But I still wanna be paid, Baby

Opting for a chintzy lo-fi aesthetic, Lantham’s video was self-filmed and self-edited. In an interview with NME, the product has been described by its creator as something which “looks like an Anchorman feat. Joe Exotic unofficial tribute video, but that’s what you get when you leave me in self-isolation with a handycam.”

The subsequent debut EP is set to see the light of day later this year, released under the new T Truman moniker, according to the above cited NME article. The fresh album was reportedly co-written and co-produced as a collection in collaboration with Lanham’s friend and fellow musician Geoff Roberts.

Encapsulating the raison d’etre of this new one-man artistic venture, Lanham has been quoted in a recent interview with DIY Magazine as saying T Truman is an alter-ego to be employed as a “writing scapegoat.” Asserting that if he were to “take the lyrics completely seriously,” Lanham proposes that “I don’t think I’d like me.” The article further details the conditions under which the video was produced, “filmed at his family home in Australia during quarantine.”

And if that isn’t a great way to make the most of lockdown, I can’t say what else is.

For anyone curious as to what they can expect from this latest release, a brief trip down memory lane takes listeners back to mid-April, where Tame Impala made the collaboration known in a tweet shared on his official Twitter account, @tameimpala. But, if you’re in need of a fresh dose of fresh-out-the-box newness, then there isn’t long to wait: The Streets’ new album will be brought into the world on July 10th, according to a recent NME article.

The Streets ft. Tame Impala 'Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better’ // OUT NOW // https://t.co/qROpGLes75 pic.twitter.com/klFpggF6uX

— Tame Impala (@tameimpala) April 14, 2020

Featuring a roster of guest artists such as IDLES – whose cheerful frontman Joe Talbot has been keeping the nation company lately with his virtual talk show – as well Jesse James Solomon and Ms. Banks, so we are sure to be spoilt for choice. Elsewhere we have been lucky enough to get an early taste of what’s to come, as the impending album has already been previewed in a new documentary exploring the mixtape’s making-of. Check it out here to treat your eyes and ears:

Directed by Anton Corbijn, the Dutch photographer and prolific director of music videos and feature-length films, the documentary is set for release on June 26th, on DVD and BluRay. Featured on the film’s official website, a pre-release sneak peak is on offer for those who can’t wait the extra week – a video of the band performing “Cover Me” from the soon-to-be-released Berlin concert.

Sourcing an official statement for the upcoming release, an article published by NME claims the new concert film will “zero in on their lives – all extremely different save for their love of Depeche Mode’s music and the way that music has shaped their experiences – intercut with the final Berlin show, held at the iconic Waldbühne (“Forest Stage”) on the record-breaking two-year Global Spirit Tour in 2018, which saw them play to over 3 million fans at 115 shows across the world.”

Quite the feast of sight and sound awaits, I’m sure. Not surprising, though, for a film like this to be coming from a director who, in a previous interview with NME, said the band were constantly changing and developing, artistically. “Depeche Mode were only interested if there was a different angle to it,” Corbijn said, “so we decided to look at the reason for why Depeche Mode was still growing. They have all these fans and they’re the biggest cult band in the world. It’s unbelievable.”

- Photo credit: Owen Ela

Taking to his official Twitter page, @liamgallagher, to celebrate, the Manchester-born artist expressed his disbelief for these “strange days indeed.” Referring to himself as “an unsophisticated parka monkey,” he thanked all of his fans and supporters who had helped him secure “3 number 1 albums in 3 years.” Many of the comments on the recent tweet were overwhelmingly positive, with most suggesting the remarkable feat had indeed been well-deserved, as well as underlining the achievement of having been the year’s best-selling vinyl record (so far).

Nobody told me there’d be days like these, strange days indeed. Most peculiar mama. 3 number 1 albums in 3 years..not bad for an unsophisticated parka monkey. Thanks to everyone who made it happen LG x pic.twitter.com/CgfwX4MQDX

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) June 19, 2020

According to NME, the new album is “the first live album to top the charts since George Michael’s ‘Symphonica’ in 2014,” with the same article sourcing a press release that claims Gallagher has collectively spent almost half a year sitting at the Number One position, with a record 11 chart-topping albums from both his solo career and his days in the Britpop monolith, Oasis. Meanwhile, the two previous Number Ones to have come out of this latter half of the decade were 2017’s As You Were and 2019’s Why Me? Why Not

Additional information about the new album’s making-of stems from the above cited NME article, which reports that MTV Unplugged “was recorded at Hull City Hall in 2019,” featuring select tracks from his solo recordings and Oasis back-catalogue. Gallagher’s “former Oasis bandmate Bonehead appeared on the band’s songs, while the 24-piece Urban Soul Orchestra also accompanied Gallagher.”

If we are only mid-way through the year and these feats have been achieved in under a week, who knows what greater heights the now three-time #1 artist can ascend in the remaining six months?

Duffy releases new song 'River in the Sky' after opening up about kidnapping trauma https://t.co/sU5A3HjKpt

— The Independent (@Independent) June 18, 2020

Launching the new track today (June 18th) in a post on her official Instagram profile, @duffy, the song is in fact the only one on her page so far – yet her fan following is unquestionably strong. Having accrued 198,000 followers since launching the account, it has been a strong foundation stone for the latest release.

The song’s lyrics are especially haunted, performed in solo voice and backed by piano, as she recounts being “afraid of the dark” as she is visited by a force which “covers me so patiently as I learn to deal with the pain.” The pain of her trauma which she is describing has only recently been made known to a public audience.

In the above cited Guardian article, the 35-year-old behind the hit “Mercy” explained to her followers in February, via a since deleted Instagram post, how she “was raped and drugged and held captive over some days … The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.”

Released under the caption, “For the better days to come / Duffy,” many of the comments have been overwhelmingly positive, with listeners sharing their praise for the fresh lyrics with statements such as, “Beautiful as always, thank you for sharing,” “Wow… stunning. You have the most amazing voice,” and “you are so missed.”

According to Folly Group’s percussionist, Kai, time spent in lockdown has been utilised to ensure the four of them made the mistakes “every band needs to make – a lot of them…” One key learning has been to simplify the texture of their musical output, ensuring that the sounds of an online release can be easily replicated in real life. According to guitarist Louis, it was after Kai had joined the collective, “and we’d incorporated the electronic sound,” that the band saw their “eureka moment.”

The new single, released yesterday (June 16th) on their official YouTube channel, offers some strikingly trippy energy and the central appearance of the band’s drummer and co-vocalist Sean. Considering the limitations of performing live music – rather than being able to tinker, adjust and refine a recording with the use of digital software – he posits that, “It gives you limitations that force you to be really creative. It gives us healthy confines which lends themselves to making the best with what you’ve got, as opposed to just chaos.”

Yet the sudden disappearance of opportunity for live gigs was a huge blow for the band this year, on the cusp of breaking it big in the British capital. “Having live music swept out from underneath us is a bitter pill to swallow,” as Louis conceded. Adding to this, Sean says the band “almost decided … that we weren’t going to put another song out if there wasn’t a live show to celebrate. It would feel half-released.”

Fortunately they were all able to continue recording in Kai’s bedroom studio and the volcanic masterpiece you saw above is the lurid, remarkable fruit of that labour.

- Photo credit: Holly Whitaker

In an NME article addressing the city’s uncomfortable past, it is said that “campaigners have been pushing to address Bristol’s chequered past, which is built on exploitation and enslavement.” Much of the city’s wealth had reportedly been generated by the transportation of 84,000 slaves from Africa to America, which Colston oversaw in conjunction with the Royal Africa Committee.

Alarmingly, however, Colston’s legacy is revered each November when multiple churches around the city observe Colston Day, while entire streets and squares in Bristol are named after the former philanthropist / slave-trader. Meanwhile, taking to her Instagram account, FKA Twigs expressed her distaste with the city’s pride-of-place statue: “as a gloucestershire born woman,” she says, “who as a child walked past this statue many times / as a woman whose father’s surname is smith / all i can say is / it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

POWER of Voice! https://t.co/cUeDGwIe3b

— Solomon O.B (@SolomonConcepts) June 8, 2020

One individual particularly aggrieved by his city’s veneration of the historical slave-trader is local artist and poet Solomon OB, who was one of the Bristolian voices present at the Colston statue’s empty pedestal to speak out on June 7th. Colston’s presence within Bristol is, he says, “a metaphor for how racism operates: ever present, but often in the background.”

Taking to his official Twitter account, @SolomonConcepts, the wordsmith posted images and footage of his own impassioned speech, as well as recordings of other orators speaking up on behalf of the #BlackLiveMatter movement. Discussions surrounding Bristol’s historic links with slave trade had been hotly debated for years prior, but it seems recent events have lit the match for this current firestorm of voice, protest and renewed perspective.