We got to record in the most fantastical environment

A 2023 interview with Albert Hammond Jr has resurfaced in which the guitarist talked about the sessions for what would become The Strokes‘ “looser” new album, ‘Reality Awaits’.

The NYC indie band are due to release their long-awaited seventh album on Friday June 26 via Cult Records/RCA, following on from 2020’s ‘The New Abnormal’. It was recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin and finished in various international locations.

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Julian Casablancas and co. shared the first single from the forthcoming record, ‘Going Shopping’, yesterday (Tuesday April 7). This came shortly after they mailed a cassette of the song to some fans and performed it live for the first time during a show in San Francisco.

Following the return of The Strokes, fans have been pointing to Hammond Jr’s appearance on The Shaky Experience podcast three years ago. Here, the musician was asked about Rubin revealing in 2022 that he was working on a new album with The Strokes, and had finished a recording session with them in Costa Rica. The producer previously helmed the Grammy-winning ‘The New Abnormal’.

“He said such kind words,” Hammond Jr responded. “It was really cool to go back to the studio with him after ‘The New Abnormal’ […] There’s no like hidden agenda or secret – we were recording in Costa Rica.”

The guitarist went on to say that he wasn’t sure about “any timelines” regarding when the LP-in-progress would be finished. “But the exciting thing is there is stuff that we’re working on that we are excited about,” he continued at the time. “We are continually working, and that brings us joy.”

Hammond Jr added: “There’s not much detail I can give besides what [Rubin] said. In my own words: we got to record in the most fantastical environment I have ever been able to record in.

“I almost want to leave part of that description to when the record comes out and what we show of it. It was very exciting for me, and for all of us.”

When asked if the “beautiful” setting could have perhaps made the album “more beachy”-sounding, Hammond Jr replied: “No. I’ve noticed that… everyone always makes jokes about that, like as soon as we got there being like, ‘Oh, man. The whole album’s gonna have this certain feel’.

“I think the environment can affect you, sure; sometimes it might come out in a song or a part. And because you know that, you’ll be like, ‘Oh, it feels like this’. Maybe it adds to it. But I think if there’s any vibe that comes from an environment like that, it’s that the songs might be a little looser in a sense of our style.”

He shared: “[There might be] a little more jams that are put together, so there’s that element that might come from that kind of environment, and less ‘Oh, it sounds like you’re at the beach’. Do you know what I mean?

“When you’re making something, it’s never one spot – so you’re capturing feelings from yourself and where you’re at. So it’s a mixture of things; it’s an ingredient in a meal that you might taste, but isn’t the meal. It might add stuff to it that’s uniquely that – some ingredients are stronger than others – but there’s a whole thing that makes the meal, and how you cook it.”

In the same interview, Hammond Jr said The Strokes could go on for another 20 years and may never split up: “I wouldn’t have thought about it a long time ago – and these are the kind of things you never know – but I could totally see us actually just not stopping.”

You can listen to the podcast in full above.

In 2022, Rubin described the sessions with the band in Costa Rica as “incredible”. He recalled: “So they’re playing… it’s like they’re doing a concert for the ocean, on the top of a mountain […] And we did that every day, playing out in the [open], and they didn’t want to leave. It was, like, the best experience.”

Casablancas later responded by saying that group had “jammed and started some stuff”. However, he explained at the time that The Strokes’ next record was “extremely v far off” from being finished. “Check back in a year or [two] honestly,” the frontman continued.

Hammond Jr subsequently looked back on the “magical” new sessions with Rubin, and discussed the band’s future. “I don’t think we’ve written our best songs yet,” he said. “I really feel that in my gut.”

During an interview with NME in spring 2023, Hammond Jr also gave an update on the progress of The Strokes’ next full-length effort.

“I think [Rubin] was just so excited about where we recorded,” the musician told us of the producer’s revelation from the previous year. “But I don’t know what to say about it – I don’t have any information on it.

“It’s not like it’s happening and I’m hiding something. We went and did a bunch of recording. It could come out a year or two years from now – it’s an unknown amount of time when it’ll be finished but, yes, we are working on another record.”

Speaking to NME in 2020, the New Yorkers suggested that they could “be a little quicker” to release their next album, following the seven-year gap between ‘Comedown Machine’ and ‘The New Abnormal’.

“I think we have a good thing going,” Casablancas told us. “We have a good relationship with Rick. In theory, knock on wood, we should be working faster.”

The Strokes will play two main stage slots at Coachella 2026, the first weekend of which kicks off on Friday (April 10). They’ll make stops at various other US festivals, including Outside Lands and Just Like Heaven, as well as Japan’s Summer Sonic.