Albert Hammond Jr. defends The Strokes' Reality Awaits: 'It’s my favourite album we’ve ever done'
19 May 2026, 23:01 | Updated: 19 May 2026, 23:37
The Strokes' guitarist has called the forthcoming record "intoxicatingly good" and said it's his favourite record they've recorded so far.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Albert Hammond Jr. has defended The Strokes' forthcoming album and said it's his favourite they've ever done.
The NYC indie rockers announced their seventh studio effort Reality Awaits would be released on on 26th June 2026 and so far they've shared lead single Going Shopping and Falling Out Of Love—both which have come against criticism for frontman Julian Casablancas' use of vocoder.
Last week, Albert Hammond Jr shared the artwork of the band's latest single with the caption "F.O.O.L" and fans rushed to the comments to share their mixed responses.
When one follower wrote: "Albert I know you don't like it bro you can tell us," the guitarist replied: "It’s my favorite album we’ve ever done. I can’t express how beautiful it is."
The rocker went on: "I listen to the whole thing and wanna start from the beginning again. It grows and grows and becomes intoxicatingly good."
It's not the first time the guitarist has shared his enthusiasm for the band's album back in 2013.
Speaking on The Shaky Experience podcast, he said: “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," he went on. "It was very exciting for me, and for all of us.”
Listen to the mournful Falling Out Of Love below:
The Strokes - Falling out of Love (Audio)
Recorded in Costa Rica with famed producer Rick Rubin, Reality Awaits follows Is This It (2001), Room on Fire (2003), First Impressions of Earth (2005), Angles (2011). Comedown Machine (2013) and The New Abnormal (2020).
See Reality Awaits artwork and tracklisting below and pre-order and pre-save the album here.
See the The Strokes' Reality Awaits album tracklist:
- Psycho Shit
- Dine N'Dash
- Lonely in the Future
- Falling Out of Love
- Going to Babble On
- Going Shopping
- Liar's Remorse
- The Fruits of Conquest
- Pros and Cons
Read more:
- Listen to The Strokes' mournful new single Falling out of Love
- Why is Nick Valensi taking a "temporary break" from The Strokes?
The Strokes will embark on their Reality Awaits 2026 global tour dates, which include a UK & Ireland leg and a duo of dates at The O2, London.
Support on selected dates across the globe includes Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, Hamilton Leithauser, Fat White Family, The Garden, Alex Cameron, Geordie Greep, Promiseland and ÖLÜM.
See The Strokes' 2026 World Tour dates:
- 12th June - Manchester, TN—Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
- 15th June - Clarkston, MI—Pine Knob Music Theatre17—Chicago, IL—United Center
- 19th June - Cuyahoga Falls, OH—Blossom Music Center
- 21st June - Toronto, ON—RBC Amphitheatre
- 23rd June - Boston, MA—TD Garden
- 26th June - Philadelphia, PA—TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann
- 27th June - Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion
- 8th August - San Francisco, CA—Outside Lands Music Festival
- 4th August - Tokyo, JP—Summer Sonic
- 15th August - Osaka, JP—Summer Sonic
- 22nd August - CA—Just Like Heaven
- 25th August - OR—Hayden Homes Amphitheater
- 27th August - Vancouver, BC—Rogers Arena
- 28th August - Seattle, WA—Climate Pledge Arena
- 12th September - Tampa, FL—Benchmark International Arena
- 13th September - Hollywood, FL—Hard Rock Live
- 17th September - Charlotte, NC—Truliant Amphitheater
- 18th September - Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees Music Festival
- 20th September - Asbury Park, NJ—Sea.Hear.Now Festival
- 6th October - London, UK—The O2
- 7th October - London, UK—The O2 - NEW DATE ADDED
- 11th October - Amsterdam, NL—Ziggo Dome
- 13th October - Dusseldorf, DE—PSD Bank Dome
- 15th October - Berlin, DE—Uber Arena
- 17th October - Bologna, IT—Unipol Arena
- 20th October - Barcelona, ES—Palau Sant Jordi
- 22th October - Paris, FR—Accor Arena
- 25th October - Newcastle, UK—Utilita Arena
- 26th October - Manchester, UK—Co-op Live
- 28th October - Dublin, IE—3Arena
Read more:
- The Strokes add new show at The O2 London to Reality Awaits UK tour dates
- REVIEW: The Strokes & Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver noughties nostalgia at All Points East 2023
