Maps of Music

The New Abnormal (2020)

Where the lyrics of The New Abnormal take you, and where it was really made.

The title comes from a governor's remark during the 2018 California wildfires, and the cover is a 1981 Basquiat painting.

Key places

Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu (2020)

Recording site Shangri-La — The album was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded at his Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California. The band's sessions with Rubin took place here. The studio itself was left unharmed while wildfires hit the area. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording in Los Angeles (2020)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Additional recording for the album took place at this studio in Los Angeles County. The pin uses the city-center coordinate, not the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording at Groove Masters (2020)

Recording site Groove Masters — Groove Masters is listed among the studios where additional recording for the album took place, all in Los Angeles County. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording in Hawaii (2020)

Recording site Mauka View — Additional recording for the album took place at Mauka View in Princeville, Hawaii. The pin uses the city-center coordinate, not the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The New Abnormal: seventh studio album by American rock band the Strokes
• Released April 10, 2020 through Cult and RCA Records
• First full-length album since Comedown Machine (2013), the longest gap between the band's studio albums
• Produced by Rick Rubin
• Three singles came out before release: At the Door, Bad Decisions, Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus
• The Adults Are Talking went to radio months later

Background

• Writing sessions began in 2016, after the Future Present Past EP
• The band played new songs live from 2019
• First live show of the comeback: May 13, 2019, at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles
• Early shows ran into sound problems, rain-outs and cancelled festivals, partly due to COVID-19
• Title inspired by former California governor Jerry Brown's remark during the November 2018 wildfires

Recording

• Recorded at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California
• Additional recording at Studio City Sound, Lucy's Meat Market, Groove Masters and Joel and Zach's Studio, all in Los Angeles County
• Additional recording also at Mauka View in Princeville, Hawaii

Cover

• Cover art: Bird on Money (1981) by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1998.
• Lead vocalist and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti made up the lineup, which has remained unchanged since formation.
• Casablancas, Valensi and Moretti began playing together as teenagers at Dwight School in Manhattan and formed an informal band in 1997.
• Fraiture, a childhood friend of Casablancas, joined later, and Hammond Jr. was the last member to join, at the end of 1998.
• Their first show as the Strokes was on September 14, 1999, at The Spiral.
• The Modern Age EP (2001), recorded with producer Gordon Raphael, sparked a bidding war among record labels and they eventually signed with RCA Records.

Members

• Julian Casablancas: lead vocals, keyboards, drums in studio.
• Nick Valensi: guitar, backing vocals, keyboards.
• Fabrizio Moretti: drums, percussion, keyboards.
• Nikolai Fraiture: bass, keyboards.
• Albert Hammond Jr.: guitar, backing vocals, keyboards.

Career

• Debut album Is This It (2001) received widespread critical acclaim and has appeared on numerous greatest-albums lists.
• Later albums include Room on Fire (2003), First Impressions of Earth (2005), Angles (2011), Comedown Machine (2013), and The New Abnormal (2020), which was produced by Rick Rubin and won Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
• Seventh album Reality Awaits was released on July 24, 2026.
• The band's sound is described as indie rock, garage rock revival and post-punk revival, and later incorporated new wave and synth-pop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received highly positive reviews from critics, many of whom considered it a return to form for the band
• Praise focused on the maturity of singer Julian Casablancas' lyrics and the band's improved sense of musical cohesion
• Will Hodgkinson of The Times awarded the album five out of five stars, calling it the band's second masterpiece after Is This It (2001)
• Hodgkinson praised Rick Rubin's production and the album's overall sound, saying that the Strokes sound like a band again
• AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the album, saying it marks the first time in a while that the Strokes have made truly exciting music
• Consequence of Sound's Tyler Clark called it the freshest, most interesting album the band has released in more than a decade
• NME awarded the album four stars, with Ella Kemp remarking on traces of deeper introspection
• Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky was critical, writing that the album mostly just feels like a hangover
• Some reviewers were more critical, judging the album frustrating and uneven

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: weighted average score of 75 from 25 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Most critics praised the mature lyrics and the members' return to form after a period of tension and apathy within the group

Records

• Debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard 200 with 45,000 equivalent album units
• Reached number 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, the highest-selling album by pure sales that week
• Reached No. 1 in Scotland and the top ten in six other countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom
• Won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, the band's first nomination and win

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Many lyrics are thought to refer to Casablancas' divorce from his wife Juliet Joslin
• The chorus of Bad Decisions interpolates the melody of Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol and Tony James
• The Strokes' Shangri-La studio was not harmed by the Malibu wildfires that year, though the area was badly affected
• Before the album was announced, the band played a New Year's Eve show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn after cancelling a Governors Ball performance on June 2, 2019
• The Strokes performed The Adults Are Talking and Bad Decisions on Saturday Night Live on October 31, 2020

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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