2000年代に「ロックンロール・リバイバル」という一大ムーヴメントを巻き起こし、今もなおロック・シーンに多大な影響を与え続けている、NYが生んだロックンロール・ヒーロー、ザ・ストロークスが、実に7年振りとなるニュー・アルバム『The New Abnormal』をリリース！歴史的デビュー・アルバム『Is This It』から早19年。00年代、10年代と、時代の移り変わりと共に、「新たな基準」と「時代」を提示し続け、常にシーンのトップに君臨してきた彼らが放つ本作は、レッド・ホット・チリ・ペッパーズ、カニエ・ウエストらを手掛けた伝説のプロデューサー、リック・ルービンを迎え制作。唯一無二のロックンロール・サウンドを鳴らしつつ、さらなる進化と成長を遂げた作品になっている。また今作のアルバム・ジャケットには、20世紀における最も重要な現代アーティスト ジャン＝ミシェル・バスキアによる絵画「バード・オン・マネー」が描かれており、同じNY出身のアーティストとしてリスペクトを感じさせる、ザ・ストロークスならではのこだわりの高い仕様となっている。

タワーレコード （2020/02/14）

Though the Strokes have cultivated a cooler-than-cool reputation over the years, at least once on every album they reveal the melancholy underneath the facade. On Room on Fire, that moment was The End Has No End; on First Impressions of Earth, it was Ize of the World. For the first time in their career, on The New Abnormal they stay in that emotional space for more than just a song or two, and the results are some of their most rewarding music. Fair warning: the bands sixth album is short on the rockers for which theyre famous. On Bad Decisions, a quintessential example of the Strokes knowing hedonism that melts some Modern English into its tumbling beats and guitars, Julian Casablancas jubilance comes from shedding a relationship that was going nowhere. Bitterness is inescapable even on the hazy synth jam Eternal Summer, where he mutters, Everybodys on the take. But on these lengthy, brooding songs about leaving and being left behind, the Strokes sound more engaged and united than they have in years. They also sound more mature. The Adults Are Talking isnt just wittily named, the way its vocals and guitars swell and soar reflects how the band has updated their time-tested sound -- taut rhythms, intertwining melodies -- and rewritten the rules that dont work anymore. These songs couldnt be concise pop gems; musically and emotionally, theyre too complicated. Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus boasts one of the albums catchiest choruses in I want new friends/But they dont want me, but that hook is surrounded by stream-of-consciousness regrets and confessions that feel honest in their messy candidness. Here and throughout The New Abnormal, the Strokes have grown into the desolation that lurked around the edges of their debut on Is This It and Alone Together, and give First Impressions of Earths ambition the purpose that comes with another decade of experience. Its sublimely sad when At the Door opens into muted fanfares and planet-sized synth washes that still dont feel big enough to contain the mood, while Why Are Sundays So Depressing lives up to its name with an epic battle between toughness and vulnerability. Just how raw the bands emotions are on The New Abnormal is surprising and riveting. Ode to the Mets is all the more poignant because it sounds like Casablancas is telling off someone whos already long gone. When he interrupts the torchy groove and long-simmering recriminations of Not the Same Anymore to wail I was afraid/I fucked up/I couldnt change/Its too late, its potent proof that the Strokes can still surprise. Full of passion, commitment, and creativity, The New Abnormal marks the first time in a while that the Strokes have made truly exciting music. ~ Heather Phares

Rovi