John Hassall & The April Rainers - John Hassall & The April Rainers John Hassall & The April Rainers

John Hassall describes Miracles as “a London-based love story, but it’s also about finding the wonder and poetry in everyday life. Having dreams and chasing them gives you hope.”

The video for Miracles was directed by Gary Lashmar and features an actor and actress loosely based on John and his Danish wife, Line.

The new album was largely recorded at John’s home studio in Aarhus, Denmark, where he has lived since 2009, and was produced by the band, with string player Clementine Brown having a major influence on the sound.

John Hassall says: “These 10 songs are the ones that survived, grew and took on a life of their own. There’s no way of telling if a song will make it until the end. That Pale Lantern, in my opinion, started off as a rank outsider and then turned into one of the strongest songs on the album. Lessons were learnt from Wheels to Idyll and a new musical development runs through it. Whereas the last album was recorded pretty much live, the new album maintains similar classic songwriting and pop sensibilities, though with more complex arrangements and production.”

Most of the songs were co-written by John and longtime poet collaborator Steev Burgess, exploring memories of school days, journeys and adventures, fading dreams, ancient empires and even somebody’s trinket collection. Burgess, who has known Hassall for many years, wrote the lyrics to lead single Miracles, a sort of ballad of John and Line. Peter Doherty, Hassall’s bandmate in The Libertines, is also involved, receiving a co-writing credit on Doing Time.

John Hassall & The April Rainers will announce UK shows shortly. In the meantime, John will appear with The Libertines at summer festivals across Europe and the UK.

The new album follows 2017’s Wheels to Idyll, which received strong critical acclaim on release. Uncut Magazine described the album as “a Laurel Canyon-style bucolic rock voyage, with Hassall’s hushed tenor voice cooing over CSN harmonies, wistful major sevenths and Robbie Krieger-ish guitar explorations.” Mojo Magazine called it “a long-player of mellifluous, melody-soaked psychedelic pop. Hassall’s tunefulness rarely misfires and the homely, nostalgic charms never wear out their welcome.”

John Hassall has released four albums with The Libertines: Up The Bracket (2002), The Libertines (2004), Anthems For Doomed Youth (2015) and the number one album All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade (2024). He also released one album with Yeti, The Legend of Yeti Gonzales (2008).