Released on 10 April 2020, "The New Abnormal" was the Strokes sixth studio album. It was their first full-length album since Comedown Machine (2013), marking the longest gap between studio albums by the band. The album was produced by Rick Rubin. The album spawned four singles "At the Door", "Bad Decisions", and "Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus" were released as singles prior to the album's release, with "The Adults Are Talking" being released to radio months later.
The New Abnormal received highly positive reviews from
critics, many of whom considered the album a return to form for the
band. Praise was directed particularly towards the maturity of singer Julian Casablancas'
lyrics as well as the band's improved sense of musical cohesion. The
album reached No. 1 in Scotland and the top ten in six other countries,
including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The writing sessions for The New Abnormal dated as far back as 2016, following the release of the band's Future Present Past extended play from the same year. The following year, Albert Hammond, father of guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., told The West Australian that the Strokes were working with Rick Rubin on an upcoming album. Hammond Jr. responded to this via Twitter, stating that they were only presenting musical ideas to him and were not in any recording sessions. The band would eventually begin recording sessions with Rubin at his Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California.
The album is considered a mainly indie rock album, with slices of new wave mixed with electronica.sonically leans more towards the "disco-tinged post-punk than the garage rock they made their name with, Others considered certain elements of 80s pop music, glamd rock and dream pop. The album houses the same style of dueling guitar riffs heard on the Strokes' previous albums. The album also includes a series of outtakes of studio chatter interspersed throughout the album. Many lyrics on the album are thought to refer to Casablancas' divorce from his wife Juliet Joslin. Two songs on the album incorporate vocal melodies from other songs, both of which include songwriting credits for the original performers. The chorus of "Bad Decisions" uses the vocal melody from the chorus of "Dancing with Myself" (1980) by Generation X, and some of "Eternal Summer" uses the vocal melody from the chorus of "The Ghost in You" (1984) by the Psychedelic Furs.
The cover art for The New Abnormal features the 1981 painting Bird on Money by US artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The album's title was inspired by a quote made by former California governor Jerry Brown in November 2018 in the midst of the California wildfires. Brown had responded to the emergency events being labeled "the new normal" by instead calling them "the new abnormal".
Critics considered the album as a favorable recording praising the mature lyrics and highlighted the members' return to form after a period of tension and apathy from within the group, the album is also considered as the band's second masterpiece following "Is This It", praising Rick Rubin's production and the album overall sound. The New Abnormal is easily the freshest, most interesting album that The Strokes have released in more than a decade. Althought some reviewers were more critical in their judgement of the album, just considered as a hangover and just a cheesy Eighties synths and dinky disco beats.
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