By Gustavo Buenrostro
Seven years after their last full-length album, The Strokes released two new singles from their upcoming album “The New Abnormal.”
The first of the singles titled “At the Door” was released to the public on February 11, debuting at Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire political rally the day before.
The song has a very somber tone with a heavy use of synths as the lead sound in the song.
As the chorus begins, Julian Casablancas’ impassioned voice breaks through the calmness at the start of the song as he sings about the failing of a romantic relationship.
The lyrics tackle emotions that come with dealing with a goal that can never be reached as well as the ending of the relationship.
An animated music video accompanied the song showing a young boy living through fantasies as he watches his parents argue and ultimately leave him.
While the song does have the sound fans have come to associate The Strokes with, it definitely feels different from what they normally sound like.
It sets a tone for the rest of the album.
While some fans were excited for the song, many complained about he sound.
The second single “Bad Decisions” also debuted at the Sanders’rally, but with a live performance by The Strokes at the rally with the song was released on streaming services on February 18 along with the music video.
Compared to “At the Door,” “Bad Decisions” has a more upbeat tempo as well as a catchy chorus and post chorus.
The post chorus having more drawn out notes by Casablancas that are satisfying to the ears.
This song is more Stokes-sounding with the guitar having a rhythmic melody that more people will be able to bop their heads to.
The lyrics on this song actually share more in common with “At the Door,” as both talk about relationships, with “Bad Decisions” focusing more on the relationship and how it was a bad idea to be in it.
The music video for “Bad Decisions” is a parody of old infomercials with the band themselves being sold to consumers.
It is difficult to tell what kind of album “The New Abnormal” will be.
The two singles are completely different in tone with similar overlapping themes.
Either way, the sound is similar enough to what the Strokes are associated with, but different enough to be interesting.
“The New Abnormal” will be released on April 10.