The Strokes have released their latest new wave-y single from their forthcoming album The New Abnormal, due out April 10th.
The track, “Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus,” sees lead singer Julian Casablancas meditating on memories, from old friends to the “Eighties bands” of his youth. He wants to form new relationships but finds it difficult to make those bonds from the ground up: “I want new friends, but they don’t want me/They’re making plans while I watch TV.” On the bridge, Casablancas references his ex-wife and former Strokes assistant manager Juliet Joslin; the two divorced last year.
The New Abnormal will be the Strokes’ sixth studio album, and their first in seven years, following 2013’s Comedown Machine. The band has released two prior singles, “Bad Decisions” and “At the Door,” both of which they premiered during a high-profile performance at a Bernie Sanders rally in Durham, New Hampshire.
The concert, which followed a rally that included speeches from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Dr. Cornel West, helped raise more than $100,000 for the Sanders presidential campaign, according to Vanity Fair. It also attracted controversy over Casablancas’ interaction with a police officer onstage during the song “New York City Cops.”
“It was not on our setlist,” Casablancas told Rolling Stone. “The cops had turned the lights on, so we were like, ‘Let’s just play “New York City Cops,” then, as a farewell.’ One of them grabbed my arm. I was like, ‘Oh, damn, am I about to get arrested right now?’”
