The Strokes announce new album, 'Reality Awaits'

The Strokes are back on the clock. The New York band have announced Reality Awaits, their first album in six years, due out this summer—though, in true Strokes fashion, they’re keeping the details frustratingly sparse. The news arrived via a cryptic teaser that plays like a glossy 1981 magazine ad brought to life, all neon nostalgia and analog haze, soundtracked by a fleeting snippet that may—or may not—offer a glimpse of what’s to come.

If the rollout feels deliberately elusive, the live shows haven’t revealed much more. The band took the stage at San Francisco’s Warfield on Saturday, sticking to a setlist that leaned on the classics, with no sign yet of new material. That could shift quickly: they return to the city tonight for a show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and with a high-profile run of festival dates looming, the expectation is that Reality Awaits won’t stay a mystery for long.

From there, The Strokes head into a stacked festival circuit—Coachella this weekend, followed by appearances at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Just Like Heaven, Shaky Knees, and more—before wrapping the run at Sea.Hear.Now in Asbury Park on September 20. For a band that’s built a career on balancing detachment with precision, the slow reveal of Reality Awaits feels less like hesitation and more like control. The question now is when they’ll finally let the music speak for itself.