The Strokes – Falling Out of Love Review

The Strokes managed to rebuild a lot of goodwill following the release of lead single, Going Shopping, with their bold Coachella performance. But taking a stand on the right side of history does not quite forgive the drop-off in quality that the Julian Casablancas-fronted band are displaying right now. The second Reality Awaits single, Falling Out of Love, is nothing short of agonising. The Strokes are on track to release what will likely be their worst album to date, with this six-minute, vocoder-heavy song never going anywhere, nor seeming like the band wants it to. Falling out of love with The Strokes is inevitable when the group sounds like this. A dated, tired-sounding instrumental section paired with an unsuitable experiment with the vocoder sounds of Going Shopping. It’s not for everyone, and we can at least give the band some credit for trialling new sounds. But with Falling Out of Love, it’s at the expense of the lyrics, the overall sound, and the likability of the project. 

Falling Out of Love verges on embarrassing at times. Acid rains and fallen angels give some scope for a story, but it never finds an angle for the solution, or even the reason, for bringing all these tones together. It sounds as though the band is split between two sounds and have yet to find a convincing way to pair the vocoder reliance and instrumental tone. Going Shopping had a decent lead instrumental holding it together. Falling Out of Love does not have that. It, at the very least, has some decent writing from Casablancas. But his writing style was never in doubt. What is in doubt here is whether the studio in which Reality Awaits was recorded suffered a gas leak. Ludicrously silly work from the band, once more it sounds like Casablancas is obsessed with the one-off he did with Daft Punk and hopes to replicate their electronic, robotic tone in their permanent absence. 

The vocoder will be a reason for many to hop off The Strokes upcoming project. But it’s not the instrument that’s the problem, not in of itself, anyway. What the band struggles with here is finding a suitable use for it. Casablancas’ voice and the tool clash, and it sounds as though The Strokes are either deaf to the problem or ignorant. Either way, they’re pushing through with a tool unfit for this style of writing, their style of work, and for what listeners may want from the group. We must praise artists for taking risks with their delivery and audience, but this is a bridge too far. The Strokes are not stepping out of their comfort zone on Falling Out of Love. Instead, they’re adapting their usual tone and style to a set of instruments and studio choices that benefit nobody. It does not advance their artistry, merely muddying the waters of what we should want from the band. Try to keep your ear open for a few moments of wisdom for Casablancas, that’s the saving grace.  

A plodding guitar riff and some uncomfortable pitches from Casablancas is perhaps a sign that the band needs a reality check. Reality does await, but The Strokes sound no closer to accepting this new truth. Casablancas has fallen foul of what many vocalists are themselves coming to terms with, particularly of his generation. Adapting to the times of a changing voice is a litmus test for how an artist will survive the second phase of their career. The Strokes will survive; they’re too big and beloved to fail, but this is a sign that they may be settling down as a legacy act rather than a constantly beating, contemporary outfit. No harm in doing that, so long as Reality Awaits is cast aside on their next tour. We can only hope so at this rate.