The New Abnormal
The Strokes 2020 retrospective
indie-rock alternative-rock post-punk-revival
A mature, emotionally exposed return produced by Rick Rubin, channeling two decades of history into patient, vulnerable rock songs that earned the Strokes their first Grammy and overdue critical respect.
Acoustic Profile
Production
Method: live-dominant
Fidelity: polished
Rick Rubin's reductive production philosophyextended song structures with patient buildswarmer, more spacious guitar tones than early worklive band performance with minimal studio manipulation
Vocal
Approach: sung
Lyrical Abstraction: 5/10
Mood & Theme
vulnerability yearning melancholy
Territory: middle-age-reckoning, nostalgic-self-awareness, emotional-maturity, pandemic-era-unease
Emotional Arc: weary-reflection-building-to-hard-won-catharsis
Era & Context
Released just as COVID-19 lockdowns began, The New Abnormal felt accidentally prophetic. Rick Rubin's production stripped the band back to essentials while allowing longer, more emotionally exposed compositions. It earned the Strokes their first Grammy (Best Rock Album) and critical reappraisal, proving the band could channel nostalgia without being trapped by it.
Spiritual Links (4)
Influences
Similar Albums (Cross-Artist)
1
Dog Man Star Suede (1994)
94% 2 Night Beat Sam Cooke (1963)
93% 3 The Bends Radiohead (1995)
93% 4 Bloodsports Suede (2013)
85% 5 Young Americans David Bowie (1975)
84% 6 Darkness on the Edge of Town Bruce Springsteen (1978)
83% 7 Songs of a Lost World The Cure (2024)
83% 8 Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon James Taylor (1971)
83% 9 Diana Ross Diana Ross (1970)
82% 10 The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions Seu Jorge (2005)
81%