The Strokes Announce New Album Reality Awaits and Nick Valensi Hiatus

The Strokes are moving forward with a lineup change. The New York rock band confirmed that longtime rhythm guitarist Nick Valensi is taking a temporary break as they prepare to release their new album, Reality Awaits, on June 26 via Cult/RCA. Longwave frontman Steve Schlitz will fill in while Valensi is away. The band posted the news to their Instagram story with no explanation given, but noted they look forward to his return.

This is a significant moment for one of rock's most enduring acts. The Strokes have largely been quiet since their 2020 album The New Abnormal, so a new full-length with a major label release and a tour attached is a genuine comeback story worth paying attention to.

The Strokes Debut "Falling Out Of Love" on Late Show With Colbert

A few days before the hiatus news, the band dropped a new single called "Falling Out Of Love," an Auto-Tune ballad that signals they are not playing it safe sonically. On Thursday night, they performed the track live for the first time on one of the final episodes of Stephen Colbert's Late Show, which wraps permanently next Thursday.

The performance came with a full laser light show that made it difficult to see the individual band members clearly, but the energy was there. Julian Casablancas was visibly in his element, and if the production they brought to Colbert is a preview of what the tour will look like, it should be a serious live experience.

Reality Awaits drops June 26. The tour dates have not been fully announced, but a large-scale run is confirmed to follow the release.

What This Means for Independent Artists

The Strokes' move here is worth studying regardless of what genre you work in. They are dropping a new single with a deliberately unusual sound, using a late-night TV performance as the launch pad, and entering the tour cycle with real production behind them. That sequencing, single, press moment, tour, is a playbook that works at any scale.

For independent artists building toward a release, the lesson is simple: your rollout is part of the art. If you are working on your own campaign and want to get your music in front of the right people, [submit your project to our network](/submit) and let us help you find the right room for it. And if you want to stay up on what moves like this look like in real time, check out [Pass the Aux](/pass-the-aux) for our ongoing coverage of what is working in the industry right now.