Dine N'Dash Any time we can get new music from The Strokes, it’s a good day. The first new album from the band in six years follows a logical jumping off point from 2020’s The New Abnormal, which I gradually grew to love, adored the creative risks the band took, and saw a clear path forward for them. Reality Awaits feels very much enriched in that same creative vein as The New Abnormal, but with more of a laser-focused approach to their songwriting. While some longtime fans of The Strokes may be discouraged by the prevalent use of autotune on Julian Casablancas’ vocals, the fans who’ve explored the lead vocalist’s solo work and projects with The Voidz will likely be into this material. The set was once again produced by legendary music veteran, Rick Rubin, whom worked with The Strokes on The New Abnormal, and Reality Awaits gets its strength from the band trusting their instincts and honing in on what makes them special, all while utilizing the careful direction from Rubin to steer the ship on the right course. The Strokes rarely miss on an album, and Reality Awaits shows that the band has plenty left to offer the indie rock scene that so willingly adored them out of the gate.
”Psycho Shit” opens the record with an eerie guitar riff from Albert Hammond Jr., while Nick Valensi adds in some contextual depth to the track as Julian Casablancas offers some bizarre lyrics in the tail end of the song with, “You’re feeling good, frozen in time / But ignorance is no surprise / This time / You kill your prey, from your nest / From behind a desk / Psycho shit / You have no honor / Or no balls.” The track plays out like a bit of a James Bond theme with its slow crawl in the beginning stages, building up to a great crescendo of sound, that sets Reality Awaits onto new territory for the ever-evolving band. One of my favorite songs in the early part of the set comes from the high-hat and synth-heavy “Dine N’Dash” that finds The Strokes exploring a comfortable groove in their sound, while still adding some new context to the story of the band. The verse of, “I will not surrender / Something in my brain / I will not defend them / Lies you told today / Fighting for the future / Watch the witches burn / I cannot defend them,” paints a vivid picture of society on the brink of collapse, while dripping in metaphors of losing oneself in the discourse of the benefits of technology versus the pitfalls of AI.
”Lonely in the Future” expands upon this concept with some cool guitar effects, while Casablancas’ vocals really shimmer in Rick Rubin’s production that recalls his work with The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ By The Way album. Rubin largely allows for Casablancas to explore the musical landscape set forth from his bandmates, and it makes for a great song that is a pop gem in its own right. When singing about the future, Julian shares, “You don’t get it, it’s a pity / Maybe you’ll catch up sooner / Rather than later, sorry / It’s lonely in the future / I heard that twenty fucking years ago, I did / Fantano, word for word, when I was a kid / Stick to the technical, ’cause that’s great / But you would not recognize art in any age,” with the last lyric hitting the hardest for a band who has never conformed to any musical norms in their career. Instead, The Strokes breathed a full new era of indie rock and a plethora of “The …” bands that would try to follow in their footsteps.
”Falling out of Love” is a ballad about how distance can make us lose focus on what matters most in our world, as Casablancas croons over dripping autotune, “I took you out to my hometown / Where I learned to be alone / Ridin’ up the mountainside / Where all the world’s here / Linger on to praise the dawn / Different boots, same old song / I’m in love with a ghost / I’ll be always and never alone,” that meshes well with the album art of a cowboy trying to find his place in this world. The song was the second single to be released from Reality Awaits and it makes for a legendary four-song opening run. While “Going To Babble On” finds Casablancas at his most self-aware in the chorus of, “I won’t go on too long / Don’t want to babble on / I guess it’s overdue / I didn’t think it through / Is that where tears are from? / Forget the movie’s on / Somebody wants my role / Don’t be emotional,” as he is in tune with not wanting to overstay his welcome in the music scene, as well as finding the right tone to exit stage right when his time is up. It’s a stunning way of opening up the back half of the LP that begins to stretch its creative legs at the right point in time.
”Going Shopping” was probably the most bizarre choice of a lead single from the set, but in the context of the entirety of Reality Awaits, it kinda works in the middle section of the record. Casablancas clumsily croons over some vibrant guitars, “I can’t wait, I’m goin’ shoppin’ / I’m at the mall, and the song is bumpin’ / I want to be a 7-foot starfish / Above the law, a political puppet,” that are strange lyrics even by his own standards. “Liar’s Remorse” is another ballad that has a bit of trouble getting its footing in the early stages, but it recovers enough in the latter stages of the song that adds in some organs and unique guitar tones to make it stand apart. “The Fruits of Conquest” has a bit of a Latin-flavored influence to it in the early-going, while the cool guitar groove from Hammond Jr. and Valensi keep things moving in the right direction. The track has a great beat, yet the nonsensical lyrics of, “Watch your back, it’s a trap / Does her best work on her back / Feed the world, took a nap / There’s a message I forgot / Don’t say that,” end up being a tad distracting from the overall message that Casablancas may be trying to convey here.
The album closer of “Tyrants of the Mellow Moon” does a solid job of sticking the landing on Reality Awaits that brings some balance to the record with a similar sound from the opener. The track plays out like a mid-tempo Country ballad that sizzles over indie rock guitars, while Casablancas continues to be enamored with autotune and vocal effects. I found the lyrics of, “Oh, I tried to make things right / Though it’s hard, maybe I can for just one night / Though I never say the same thing twice / I will sigh one more time / I can’t wait,” to be particularly telling in the history of The Strokes in the fact that the band seems to have to not only explain themselves, but prove that they still belong in the music scene. It’s a complex answer, and yet The Strokes are never boring on this album. There’s plenty to dissect on Reality Awaits, and the fans who’ve stuck with The Strokes since the opening notes of “Last Nite” will likely still be along for the ride here.