What do One Direction and Ed Sheeeran have in common with The Libertines?

On the face of it, nothing – but the band have announced the surprising news that they are making their third album with producer Jake Gosling, who is best known for working with the two pop acts.

The Libertines
The Libertines (Laura Lean/PA)

Carl Barat told NME that he was heading out to Thailand to record the rest of the band’s comeback album with bandmate Pete Doherty, who has been in a rehab centre there, and that they had signed up Jake, who was nominated for a Grammy for his work with Ed and also produced One Direction’s last three albums.

He said: “We had wish lists flying back and forth, from the [John] Leckies through to the [Paul] Epworths and Stephen Street. What it boiled down to was that we wanted to try something a bit new with someone who is a bit new.

One Direction
One Direction worked with Jake Gosling (Ian West/PA)

“We wanted someone who is getting their thing going, rather than someone who is just going to put us through their machine. This isn’t a heritage band making a heritage album.”

Carl added that things were going well with the band working together again: “The feeling’s great, we’ve been sparking. The pistons are all firing. I’m genuinely excited, and can’t wait to get this stuff out there. We’ve all been waiting to write this record for ages.”