Albert Hammond has told the New York Post that kicking heroin helped him clean himself up and his sound.

The 33-year-old spoke about one particular low point of his heroin addiction, he said:

“One time I did it in the bath, and I had to pull myself out, I thought I was gonna drown. I didn’t realize the hot water makes [the blood in] your veins move faster, so it hits you hard. There were many times I looked in the mirror and thought, ‘Don’t die — focus.’ ”

Guitarist Hammond Jr was a junkie from 2006 to 2009 and took everything from cocaine to ketamine, but things got worse when the band were recording their fourth album, 'Angles', which was released in 2011. He said: 

"I saw clearly that I had to begin again, otherwise it would kill me. You can’t shoot drugs like that and not be on the verge of death at all times.”

Hammond Jr is now in good health.  He released the four-track EP 'AHJ' back in October 2013 on Strokes singer Julian Casablancas’ label, Cult Records.  On January 10 he’ll support Brit star Jake Bugg at New York's Terminal 5.

Getting sober has helped Hammond find a new spark creatively. “Each song kept on getting better,” he remembers. “By the third song on the EP, the producer Gus Oberg and I started to get a little nervous. We weren’t sure.

Watch the video for The Strokes' hit, 'Last Night' below: