The Strokes Push "Reality Awaits" Album to July 24

The Strokes have confirmed July 24, 2026 as the new release date for their seventh studio album “Reality Awaits”, after pushing the originally announced June 26 date back by almost a month. The news came from both the band and their official store, with the delay made public in mid-June.

For anyone who follows the New York group, this is a major comeback. “Reality Awaits” is their first full-length album since “The New Abnormal” in 2020, the record that also won them a Grammy. Five years away is a long stretch for a band that helped define an entire wave of garage rock in the early 2000s, so the anticipation is correspondingly high.

Why was the album pushed to July?

The reason for the delay is not some big drama. Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. explained that they moved the date four weeks later so the streaming release would line up with the vinyl release. In other words, they wanted every format to land on the same day rather than have the physical edition trail the digital one.

Hammond has been one of the album’s loudest champions. He described it as one of the best the band has ever made and said he could not express how beautiful it is, that he listens to it from start to finish and wants to begin again. That kind of enthusiasm from a band member is not an everyday thing, and it has only raised expectations ahead of release.

The record was made in Costa Rica, with production handled by Rick Rubin, one of the most famous names in the global music industry. The pairing of The Strokes’ sound with Rubin’s approach was enough to get talk of the album going before a single track had even dropped.

What did the first singles reveal?

The first taste came through the singles “Going Shopping” and “Falling Out Of Love”, and those are exactly what divided fans. Part of the audience embraced the new songs, while another part had reservations, mostly about the use of Auto-Tune on Julian Casablancas’ vocals. For a band built on a raw, instantly recognizable sound, that kind of vocal treatment was a step too far for some.

That split is not necessarily bad news. When people argue over the lead tracks, it usually means nobody will listen to the album with indifference. The Strokes have surprised people before by changing direction, so it remains to be heard whether the full album will live up to Hammond’s words or the skeptics will be proven right.

Fans have a little more time until July 24 to get used to the group’s new sound. So how do the first singles strike you, are you counting down the days to “Reality Awaits” or has The Strokes’ new direction left you a bit worried?