The Strokes unleash seventh album Reality Awaits and launch global tour

New York rock band The Strokes have issued their seventh studio album, *Reality Awaits*, their first collection of original songs in six years. The record was recorded in Costa Rica with veteran producer Rick Rubin and completed in studios across several countries. It marks a stylistic shift, featuring extensive vocal processing – heavy use of Auto‑Tune and vocoder – which has drawn polarized critical reactions. Reviewers note that while the songwriting retains some of the band’s classic edge, the experimental production divides longtime fans.

The release coincides with an extensive international tour. Sold‑out dates have been reported for German venues, and the band will appear at major festivals such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Summer Sonic (Japan) and Red Rocks. Additional shows are scheduled for New York’s Flushing Meadows, London’s O2 Arena, Paris’s Accor Arena, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome and Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, with a lone Italy concert at Bologna’s Unipol Arena. A behind‑the‑scenes short film, *In Transit: Part II*, documents the Costa Rica sessions.

Overall, *Reality Awaits* is positioned as the band’s most experimental effort to date, prompting debate over whether it revitalises the group’s legacy or strays too far from the raw sound that initially “saved rock” in the early‑2000s.