“Reality Awaits”- A New Era For The Strokes
The Strokes have released their first album in 6 years, and it’s a hit. After being delayed by a whole month, fan expectations were high. Not only did these expectations get met, but they were also well exceeded. Reality Awaits confronts politics, love, loneliness, and the internet in a realistic, yet poetic way.
Reality Awaits kicks off with the dark and moody “Psycho Shit.” The song begins with singer Julian Casablanca’s soft vocals and intensely builds as the opening track progresses. The lyrics are raw and vulnerable as they criticize military, war, and world leaders, even calling them a “wounded child with no shame.”
This same moody tone carries into “Dine N’ Dash.” The structure of this track is unique with its lack of a traditional verse, chorus, verse flow. Each chorus has a different sound, but the same lyrics. The first chorus repeats only once, then the second chorus repeats twice. In addition to this unique chorus structure, the verses break usual strong structures. There are 4 verses that each contain a different pre- and post-chorus, including one where Julian has a British accent. The song ends with Julian speaking, reminiscent to how certain songs on The New Abnormal end.
“Lonely in the Future” begins with a punchy, heavy guitar, and soon changes into an upbeat song about self-reference. The lyrics use celebrities as references to things the band has done such as saying The Weekend dresses similar to Julian or how “As It Was” by Harry Styles could be a song from The Strokes.
The use of autotune on the two singles was controversial, however the album does not consistently contain autotune. “Falling Out of Love” uses the most autotune on the album, so heavy at times it is hard to understand the lyrics. However, it provides a sharp contrast the exposing lyrics about “falling out of love for the first time,” and being okay with the feeling.
The autotune is even able to carry the vibe of certain songs, such as “Liar’s Remorse.” With only a guitar behind the autotune and distortion in the first verses and chorus, it allows the audience to fully absorb the lyrics where Julian goes into depths about navigating his feelings around love and loneliness.
Across the entire album, each song blends seamlessly into the next. Whether it be guitars continuing to the next song or a countdown with drumsticks, Reality Awaits is one of the first albums in a long time that requires a top to bottom listen. The Strokes latest album is also a display of talent from a group of extremely skilled musicians. From Albert Hammond Jr.’s complicated guitar melodies to Fabrizio Moretti’s drums that perfectly fit each track. Meanwhile, Julian explores different vocal stylings that manage to fit every song perfectly, adding variety to each track.
