It's going to be a better album, because this time we've had more than a month to be a band.
After The Libertines fell apart, Dirty Pretty Things' debut album Waterloo To Anywhere was remarkably spirited album in the circumstances. But, bumping into guitarist Anthony Rossomando after Queens Of The Stone Age's gig on Thursday, he's keen to tell us why it was only the start.
Dirty Pretty Things have a dozen new songs ready to play live, and a further 15 in various demo stages. "We've all been writing for this one," says Anthony, 31. "Mainly me and Carl but, I tell you what, Didz has been writing the best ballads. Didz gives us some quiet we didn't have before, he's been writing some sweet tunes. Mine and Carl's songs have been getting more political"
Carl Barat and Anthony recently returned from a writing trip to Paris. "It's got bleak memories for us both," admits Anthony. "Carl went there to write with Pete and it didn't go well, and I had a horrible couple of weeks stuck there after the 7/7 bombings. Because of the backlog of paperwork immigration couldn't find my visa to let me back in to Britain. I felt tertiary. Paris can be a lonely city."
Despite the bleakness of Paris, Anthony and Carl wrote two "fantastic" songs. "We played Suits Punk Military at our charity gig the other week, and the crowd went mental," says Anthony. "The other one...well, I say it's called Wars And Weekends, Carl has a different title. It's about cocaine becoming more and more available socially, the way everyone's become a weekend rock star."
The band won't be short of potential singles when they release album two. "Plastic Hearts is the current favourite, but there's four or five other possibles already." says Anthony. "That's the thing with us, we've got such short attention spans that all our songs end up being short enough for singles. Though the ones where we just go raaargh-raaargh-raaargh for three minutes are less likely candidates."
They haven't quite settled on a producer for the album. "There's a few names, but we haven't scrapped it out properly yet," laughs the affable guitarist. "What we need to do is have a few nights out down the pub, each put our case for our favourite producer and then the fights can start and we can tell each other the truth. Whoever wins will be an honourable victor"
Source:Planet Sound
