The Strokes announce “Reality Awaits” – all information about the title, teaser, Rick Rubin and the band’s festival appearances this summer.
The Strokes’ new album is called Reality Awaits. The indie rock band has now officially announced this. The release is planned for this summer.
The New York group hadn’t released new music since their seventh album “The New Abnormal” in 2020. In recent weeks there has been speculation about the band returning. On April 6, they made it official with an album teaser on their social media profiles.
“In the Flesh, It’s Even Sexier”
“In the Flesh, It’s Even Sexier”: That’s the title of the clip in which a silver Nissan reflects the dusk in orange and blue. Guitar chords and the hum of an engine can be heard while the announcement “Reality Awaits. The new album by The Strokes. Out this summer.” is displayed.
So the first new material since 2020. In recent years, the band members have devoted themselves to their respective solo projects: frontman Julian Casablancas worked with The Voidz and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. released several solo albums.
Rumors since 2022
The last rumors of a new album circulated in 2022, when producer Rick Rubin confirmed that he would be working with the band on a new project. Of a joint recording session in Costa Rica, he said: “It was incredible and we did that every day, playing outside in the open air, and they didn’t want to leave. It was just the best experience ever.”
At the time, Casablancas had made it clear that the group was working on new projects, but that a new record was still in the distant future. “Honestly look in an or [zwei] Years over again,” he wrote. Hammond also admitted to “NME” in 2023: “It’s not like there’s something going on and I’m hiding something. We sat down and recorded a lot. It could come out in a year or two – there’s no telling when it will be finished, but yes, we’re working on a new album.”
Long pauses as a trademark
Now the time has come and the album is about to be released. The long period of formation is by no means unusual for the band. They also took seven years between their last two albums, “Comedown Machine” and “The New Abnormal.”
The last release of 2020, also produced in collaboration with Rick Rubin, was praised by fans and critics. The band managed to sound more mature, incorporate new elements such as synthesizers and still remain unmistakably themselves.
Fans are excited for the new album, but are wondering if it can surpass the last release. “If it’s anything like The New Abnormal, it’ll be great!” and “I don’t know how they can top The New Abnormal, but I’m sure they’ll try,” reads the comments section on Instagram.
It is unclear whether there will also be a tour in this country. There is also no concrete information about the LP – apart from the title and the rough release period.
