Six years on from The New Abnormal, The Strokes are back.
Reality Awaits – their seventh studio album – is out June 26th via Cult/RCA Records, produced by Rick Rubin.
Lead single ‘Going Shopping’ is out now.
The album was recorded in Costa Rica with Rubin – he had mentioned the sessions as far back as a 2022 podcast appearance – and the announcement was vintage Strokes in its approach. Before the official release, the band distributed cassette tapes of ‘Going Shopping’ to 100 fans who had signed up to their promotional SMS service. letting bootlegs spread before debuting the song live in San Francisco and then putting it on streaming.
‘Going Shopping’ is a breezy guitar number with Julian Casablancas offering that he’s going “out my mind, throwin’ all my plans out the window” with a slight effect on his vocals.
The album announcement teaser was a short video styled as a 1980s car ad – a reference to a Jaguar XJS ad from 1975, with the tagline “In the flesh, it’s even sexier.”
Speaking about work on the album back in 2022, Rubin told The Joe Rogan Experience: “We rented this house up on the top of a mountain and set the band up outside. So they’re playing… It’s like they’re doing a concert for the ocean, on the top of a mountain. It was incredible. And we did that every day, playing out in the [open], and they didn’t want to leave. It was, like, the best experience.”
Albert Hammond Jr., reflecting on the recording, said he didn’t think the words could fully capture the “magical-ness” of where they were and how it felt to record. He also said: “I really think what excites me about wanting to play music and continue doing it is, I don’t think we’ve written our best songs yet. I really feel that in my gut.”
The band play Coachella this weekend and have a busy summer of festival appearances lined up – Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Summer Sonic in Japan, Just Like Heaven and Shaky Knees among them. More world tour dates are expected. No Irish date as yet.
Reality Awaits is out June 26th 2026 via Cult/RCA. ‘Going Shopping’ is on streaming now.
Reality Awaits’ tracklist:
- ‘Psycho Shit’
- ‘Dine N’Dash’
- ‘Lonely In The Future’
- ‘Falling Out Of Love’
- ‘Going To Babble On’
- ‘Going Shopping’
- ‘Liar’s Remorse’
- ‘The Fruits Of Conquest’
- ‘Pros And Cons’
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
