The Strokes recently confirmed they’re back in the studio and working on a follow-up to 2013’s Comedown Machine. Guitarist Nick Valensi, who’s currently busying himself with side-project CRX, confirmed the news via DIY.
“We are slowly but surely working on an album,” he said, via Consequence of Sound. “I don’t know when it’s going to be released, we’re kind of just in writing sessions. We’re writing. I’m actually in New York at the moment, at a studio in New York for that.”
Speaking more recently to NME, Valensi was also asked about the full-length sequel to the Future Present Past EP. “The Strokes are alive and well and living in New York City. We are working on music and we want to put music out hopefully next year,” he said.
“If I start saying that now, though, then people just get too excited and then there’s all this hype you’ve got to compete with and that’s not fun. If anything I’d rather just pull a Beyoncé next year and just drop shit.”
Meanwhile, bassist Nikolai Fraiture, who’s also promoting a new side-project entitled Summer Moon, told NME, “We’re definitely working. As people know by now, deadlines are not our forte. Anticipation and surprises are still part of the excitement of releasing new music.”
“With the pace of The Strokes as it is, I see plenty of time and room to do both [Summer Moon and The Strokes]. We play the song ‘Chemical Solution’ differently live than on the record. There’s an extended solo section at the end where everyone gets lost in the music.”
“It’s a beautiful moment and I’m hoping to capture those new feelings on tape (and hard drive).” Indeed, the NYC indie legends’ slow turnaround is notorious. There was a full three years between Comedown Machine and Future Present Past, an EP which contained just three original songs.
