The Strokes’ new album, The New Abnormal, was released a few days ago, and Julian Casablancas is being candidly realistic about it. Most artists default to comparing their new work favorably to their most esteemed output, but in a recent Los Angeles Times interview, Casablancas said The New Abnormal isn’t his favorite Strokes album.
Casablancas was asked, “How do you think of this record in relation to the Strokes’ others,” to which he responded, “I don’t.” From there, he said, “It’s my fourth favorite record I’ve ever been a part of.” When pressed for more, he ranked the first two Strokes albums, 2001’s Is This It and 2003’s Room On Fire, above it. He continued, “…and then maybe… you’re gonna get me in trouble. Let’s leave it a mystery.”
Between The Strokes, The Voidz, and his 2009 solo record, Casablancas has made nine albums, which would place The New Abnormal in the middle of the pack in Casablancas’s eyes.
Casablancas also revealed that he’s not exactly heartbroken about not being able to perform live right now, saying, “People are like, ‘Oh man, you’re not able to tour!’ I’m like, ‘That’s a bad thing?'” Additionally, he said the band considered postponing The New Abnormal, but decided not to (of course, since the album is out now): “The idea came up, I suppose because we can’t really promote it. But it didn’t seem worth postponing.”
Read our review of The New Abnormal here.
The New Abnormal is out now via RCA. Get it here.
