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Albert Hammond Jr has described The Strokes’ new album as “intoxicatingly good” and his “favourite” thing they have ever done – following some fans criticising their latest singles.
The New York indie icons started teasing new music earlier this year, hinting to fans that they would “be in touch” about a new release, before later confirming new album ‘Reality Awaits’.
The record will mark the highly anticipated follow-up to 2020’s ‘The New Abnormal’ and is set to arrive on June 26 (pre-order here). So far, they have previewed it with the chic lead single ‘Going Shopping’ and the nostalgic track ‘Falling Out Of Love’.
However, the two tracks have received a mixed response from fans, with some praising them and others being less than impressed. Many of the complaints also seem to stem from the use of a vocoder on Julian Casablancas’ voice – giving it the same distinctive sound as seen on the hit 2013 Daft Punk collab ‘Instant Crush’ and later tracks like 2020’s ‘At the Door’.
Now, guitarist and keyboard player Albert Hammond Jr has hit back at critics and described ‘Reality Awaits’ as his “favourite album” The Strokes have ever done.
After sharing a photo to celebrate the release of latest track ‘Falling Out Of Love’, numerous fans took to the Instagram comment section to share their thoughts on the new music. Many of which were quick to criticise the latest track for the use of the vocoder, while some said that they were confused about why people were so against it.
In response to one comment, which urged Hammond to admit that even he “doesn’t like” the new latest track, the artist defended the new material and praised it as reigniting his love for the band.
“It’s my favourite album we’ve ever done. I can’t express how beautiful it is,” he replied. “I listen to the whole thing and wanna start from the beginning again. It grows and grows and becomes intoxicatingly good.”
His comments align with what he said in a recently-resurfaced interview from 2023, where he said that the band were focusing their efforts on “working on what we are excited about” and leaning into the things “that brings us joy.”
More recently, Hammond also claimed again that working with Rick Rubin on the record was “one of his favourite recording experiences”. “I don’t think if I told you what it looked like and what it was, you’d fully understand the ‘magical-ness’ of where we were and how it was to record like that,” he 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.”
When ‘Going Shopping’ dropped last month, NME gave the single a three-star review and described it as a song that “doesn’t feel bold” but also “does avoid playing anything safe.”
“You couldn’t definitively place its sound on any of The Strokes’ previous six albums, but the lack of spirit and tenacity – save for a guitar solo at the end – is noticeable,” the review read. “‘If you’re better than me you don’t have to judge me’, signs off Casablancas, with an imaginary raised eyebrow. But perhaps even he would admit that The Strokes are better than this.”
Since the song was released, The Strokes have performed at Coachella 2026 – where they called out the CIA and the United States government in their set – and played new material on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The band are now gearing up for more festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Summer Sonic and more, and have also announced a huge tour visiting the UK, North America, Europe and Japan. It will be their first full run of headline dates in the UK and Ireland in over 20 years, and gigs include stops at London’s O2.
Support comes from Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, Hamilton Leithauser, Fat White Family, Alex Cameron and ÖLÜM, and more dates have been added due to huge demand. Find tickets here.
The tour will see The Strokes perform without guitarist Nick Valensi, and the band confirmed recently that he would be taking a “temporary break” ahead of their upcoming world tour.
New music from the indie heroes comes after Julian Casablancas spoke in 2024 about “stepping away” from the band to focus on his other group, The Voidz. He did add, however, that “it’s a very cool day job that I’m honoured to have, so I don’t feel negatively about it”.
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