An Honest Review of Reality Awaits

Allison Kirk

Music Journalist

Credentials

After 6 years, The Strokes just released a new album, Reality Awaits, and there’s been a lot of controversy online about it. This album is different than anything we’ve heard from The Strokes before. The band introduces a darker, more techno side than what we’ve seen before, and the lead singer, Julian Casablancas, even uses autotune over his voice in a couple of songs. Reality Awaits is The Strokes 7th studio album, with lyrics written mostly by Mr. Casablancas, music composed by the band members (Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond Jr, Fabrizio Moretti, and Nick Valensi), and produced by the legendary Rick Rubin. The same crew who created the band’s last released album, The New Abnormal. A lot of fans, including myself, saw the group and expected something similar, another New Abnormal or Is This It…but this album was something different.

I’ve been a big fan of The Strokes since I can remember, from hearing them on the radio growing up, with influence from my family and a band I always come back to. The Strokes have gotten me through some rough times, and hearing about the release of their new album got me very excited.

First Impressions

But upon first listen, I was taken aback. I’m used to the original Strokes sound. It’s the funky riffs, exciting high-tempo strumming, interesting guitar solos with Julian’s distinctive voice that bring me in. When you hear The Strokes, you’ll know it. It’s like the band has its own genre; nothing compares to it. And with previous albums in mind, I found a lot of Reality Awaits kind of bland. With 9 songs released, averaging 5 minutes per song. To me, a lot of the songs I felt were dragged out. It wasn’t until I listened to the album about 3 times and paid closer attention to the lyrics and more hidden guitar riffs that I began to enjoy the album more.

Need to know information

If you’ve been following along with the lead singer, Julian Casablancas, you’d know techno is nothing new to him. He’s been a part of the experimental band, The Voidz, since 2013 and has also partnered with Daft Punk on some funky autotuned beats. To me, when really paying attention, Reality Awaits seems like a personal ode to Casablancas music and personal style. And after years of creating music like the industry and fans want, it’s only understandable that the band and Casablancas would like to go in a different direction. To make what they think sounds cool without the worry of impressing their already established audience.

Think of Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, even Post Malone, all artists who have gone in different directions in their music and gotten hate for it. People hate change; they hate to hear anything that isn’t what they already know. And with all the controversy online, it’s only understandable that fans would reject this new Strokes sound also. But I think, like Lorde, their music will only grow on you the more you listen. For me, after consuming myself with this album since its release, I’ve grown to like it more and more. If you’re an OG Strokes fan, this album may confuse you at first, but upon further listening… it’s still The Strokes, just an even more personal and unique version. I’ve added my personalized ranking of the songs based on how much I enjoyed each song.

Ranking:

1. Tyrants of the Mellow Moon

2. Going to Babble On

3. Fruits of Conquest

4. Falling out of Love

5. Lonely in the Future

6. Going Shopping

7. Liars Remorse

8. Dine and Dash

9. Psycho Sh*t

Final Thoughts

These songs, although longer than normal, feel complete. The band isn’t rushing through to appeal to the audience; the songs feel created with lots of care. I’ll always be a sucker for The Strokes punk-rock, fast-tempo songs, but an album like this helps me appreciate more of what this band has to offer. We may never get another album like Room on Fire, but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for The Strokes. Anything they release I’ll always be excited and eager to hear.