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The Strokes Release Two New Singles Ahead Of ‘Future Present Past’ EP [Listen]

By Ny MaGee
Published on: 05:57 PST, May 26, 2016

Fans of the Strokes have been eager for a follow-up to their 2013 album Comedown Machine, and now the wait is officially over! The band has announced the release of a new song titled “OBLIVIUS,” the first off their upcoming four-track EP titled Future Present Past. NME reports that the EP will drop next Friday and features “Threat of Joy,” a remix of “OBLIVIUS” by Fab Moretti, and another track that was released this afternoon titled “Drag Queen.”

Lead singer Julian Casablancas debuted “OBLIVIUS” on his new radio show Culture Void, which will air on U.S. radio station Sirius XMU once a month. UK-based Zane Lowe premiered “Drag Queen” on his Beats 1 Radio show today.

According to Live105.com, the Strokes rented out Monterrey’s Victoria Records in mid-December 2015 to record music for their upcoming EP. Earlier this year, a music executive tweeted that he was enjoying listening to the band’s new single, but according to NME, that tweet was later deleted — perhaps because the band wasn’t quite ready to share what they were cooking up.

To accompany their new track and EP announcement, the Strokes shared a video that is billed as their first interview in a decade, and some of the highlights from it include figuring out whether bands who perform at the Super Bowl halftime show are playing live or not.

Fab also confesses that he’s a big fan of the internet.

“I have a lot of faith in it because I believe it’s a uniform mind that allows people to be more empathetic with one another and love more as the virus that we are,” he said.

He also confirms that he loves being in the band because “I feel like I’m constantly surprised and I’m excited to see what comes up next. One thing I’ve learned from working with other people every once in a while is that I don’t have the level of trust I have with [this band] with anyone else.”

Julian says that he’s “very surprised, impressed and blown away by Fab’s new life as a remixing producer,” calling it “genius, man.”

Check out “A Conversation with The Strokes” below.

The Strokes formed in New York City in 1998 and consist of Julian Casablancas (lead vocals), Nick Valensi (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Albert Hammond, Jr. (rhythm guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Nikolai Fraiture (bass), and Fabrizio Moretti (drums, percussion). The group’s critically acclaim debut album, Is This It, is ranked as one of the best debuts of all time. The Strokes have released five studio albums and have sold over five million albums worldwide.

While The Strokes have been quiet since Comedown Machine, both Casablancas and Hammond Jr. released solo efforts. In 2015, Hammond Jr. released his third solo album, Momentary Masters, and the year before, Casablancas released Tyranny with a new backing band, the Voidz, per Rolling Stone.

Shortly after dropping the nostalgic rocker “OBLIVIUS,” the band gifted fans with another new track, “Drag Queen.” Listen to both tracks via the players below or on Cult Record’s website — the songs appears as part of a Vevo video to the right of the screen.

The Strokes will be performing in New York on May 31. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, and more information is available on the band’s website. The band will return June 3 to headline the city’s annual Governor’s Ball. The Future Present Past EP drops June 3 and can pre-ordered digitally now on iTunes, and on Amazon and Google Play on May 28.

[Photo by Scott Roth/AP Images]

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