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Rating:
First impression: it seems that the Strokes want to dampen the enthusiasm of what they have done so far, or at least of what they did at the beginning when they were cool and brought a breath of renewal to the rock scene. But in the end, did you want to cling to the glories of the early days by savoring the usual overly-repeated soup? The Strokes are still cool, alternatively cool.
Some fixed points that distinguish them remain unchanged, like Julian Casablancas' nonchalant approach to the microphone or the search for an underlying groove that sets the rhythm for every track; in short, you immediately recognize who we are listening to, despite them elaborating on a change, which started with the previous album "Angles"; Casablancas experiments with his voice and the use of synthesizers, which steal the scene from the sharp guitars, indicating the evident transition to the '80s and disco music.
The album, although not very impactful, starts to become interesting after several listens; you can glimpse a harmony of sounds, melodies trying to be seductive between disco rhythms and a thin voice set on a sleepy tone; thus creating soft atmospheres, where the synthesizer tones down the rock grit of the guitars, as in "Happy Ending" and in "Tap Out" or in the commuting dream pop of "80s Comedown Machine". The flavor is at times vintage, see "Partners In Crime" while in the soft new wave ballad "Changes", Casablancas’ voice has celestial connotations. To avoid getting lost, the compromise single "All The Time" arrives and the punctuating and dreamlike "One Way Trigger"; always on the same wavelength is the lively "50/50", while "Welcome To Japan" is a dive into the funky of the '80s; the album ends with the siren song in "Call It Fate, Call It Karma", extremely underwater.
Exponential engagement with increased listens, awaiting the final evolution.
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