"The New Abnormal" is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Strokes. It was released on April 10, 2020, through Cult and RCA Records. It comes nearly seven years after March 2013’s Comedown Machine, although the band had reunited briefly to release a three-track EP titled "Future Present Past" in June 2016. The album title "The New Abnormal" is a reference to the present age of environmental disaster. “There were these huge fires in Los Angeles,” Julian about their time recording. “A lot of houses burned down but Shangri-La survived, by some miracle. That’s where the name of the album comes from, the extreme weather, the violence…” Rumors of the album’s production began in July 2017, when Albert Hammond—father of The Strokes’ guitarist, Albert Hammond Jr.—mentioned that the band was in-studio with producer Rick Rubin in an interview with The West Australian. This rumor was quickly dispelled by Hammond Jr. in a since-deleted tweet, claiming: “Forgive Albert Sr he got prematurely excited. A lot of unknowns and nothing worth speaking about at this time.” He did concede, however, that “We met and played a few music ideas for Rick to feel out a vibe, but even a theoretical album plan would be years away, if at all.” Damage control continued with Julian joking on Twitter, saying: "(What Albert Sr meant to say is we are working with NBA point guard Ricky Rubio on a new offense for our basketball league)" Back in December 2018, the band announced a series of tour dat