The Strokes return

The Strokes are back with “Going Shopping,” the first single from *Reality Awaits*, their first studio album since 2020. (shop.thestrokes.com) The band’s official store lists *Reality Awaits* as a nine-track, Rick Rubin-produced album due June 26, 2026, with “Going Shopping” arriving first. The same listing calls it the group’s seventh album. (shop.thestrokes.com) The release ends a six-year gap since *The New Abnormal*, which came out on April 10, 2020. That album was also produced by Rubin. (shop.thestrokes.com) Early reaction has split quickly. The State News reported on April 11 that reviews and fan response were mixed after the single’s April 7 release and ahead of the album rollout. (statenews.com) Some of the sharpest criticism has focused on presentation as much as the song itself. Cult Following’s April 11 review said the track’s autotune did not work and objected to the use of artificial intelligence in the music video. (cultfollowing.co.uk) Other coverage has framed the single as a stylistic pivot instead of a clean throwback. NME’s review said the song came from the band’s *Reality Awaits* sessions and described it as a more escapist entry than fans might expect from a Strokes comeback single. (nme.com) The album details suggest the band is keeping this comeback compact. The official track list runs nine songs, including “Psycho Shit,” “Dine N’Dash,” “Lonely in the Future,” and “Pros and Cons.” (shop.thestrokes.com) That track count matches *The New Abnormal*, which also ran nine songs when it was released in 2020. The continuity in producer and album length puts more attention on whether the new material can win over listeners who treated the last record as a late-career reset. (shop.thestrokes.com) For now, the facts are simple: one new single is out, one new album is scheduled for June 26, and the argument over what a Strokes return should sound like has already started. (shop.thestrokes.com)