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The Strokes Push Julian Casablancas Further Into Auto-Tune on “Falling Out Of Love”
The Strokes share “Falling Out Of Love,” a six-minute heartbreak ballad that pushes Julian Casablancas even deeper into Auto-Tune.
Julian Casablancas has never exactly been shy about picking a side, and the latest Strokes rollout makes that hard to miss. Last month, the New York band announced Reality Awaits and released “Going Shopping,” a track that pushed Casablancas deep into robot-voice territory. Now “Falling Out Of Love” takes that experiment even further.
On paper, the new single is the sort of thing the Strokes have always been able to make feel almost effortless: a loping midtempo heartbreak ballad with a genuinely pretty, soulful center. The band settles into a measured groove while Casablancas leans into the vocal theatrics he has spent years making his own. But the digital treatment is so pronounced here that his voice, at points, stops reading as recognizably human. Over the course of more than six minutes, the effect only becomes more difficult to ignore.
That tension is the whole joke, or maybe the whole point. If the song is meant to be moving, it is also weirdly funny in how committed it is to the bit. You may well disagree. But there is something distinctly Strokes about turning a straightforward emotional register into a small act of sabotage.
Reality Awaits was produced by Rick Rubin, which makes it easy to imagine a conversation or two about just how far Casablancas wanted to push the Auto-Tune. The band is set to debut “Falling Out Of Love” live on Colbert tomorrow night, and they have already lined up a substantial run of tour dates. The album arrives 6/26 via Cult/RCA.
Hear “Falling Out Of Love” below.
