The Strokes have announced that guitarist Nick Valensi is taking a “temporary break” from their tour.
The 45‑year‑old musician previously sat out several shows earlier this year, with Steve Schlitz stepping in – and he will once again cover guitar duties during Valensi’s latest hiatus.
A post on the band’s Instagram Stories read: “Nick will be taking a temporary break from the scheduled tour, but we look forward to his return.
“Holding down the guitar in the meantime is our old friend Steve Schlitz, who many of you will remember from our early NY days. We’re lucky to have him.”
As before, no explanation has been given for Valensi’s absence.
The New York indie legends are next due on stage on June 12 at the Bonnaroo music festival. Their US tour kicks off on June 15 in Clarkston, Michigan.
The run includes some of the band’s biggest venues in years, with two nights at Red Rocks, a headline show at London’s O2 Arena, Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre, Paris’ Accor Arena and Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome. A rotating cast of guests – including Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, Hamilton Leithauser, Fat White Family, Alex Cameron and ÖLÜM – will join them at select dates.
The Strokes are also releasing a brand‑new album, Reality Awaits, on June 26.
They first previewed the record with its lead single Going Shopping, marking their first new music since 2020’s acclaimed The New Abnormal, followed by Falling Out of Love.
The album was recorded in Costa Rica with Rick Rubin before being completed in studios around the world.
Rick previously said of the sessions: “I think he [Julian Casablancas] was just so excited about where we recorded. But I don’t know what to say about it — I don’t have any information on it. It’s not like it’s happening and I’m hiding something. We went and did a bunch of recording. It could come out a year or two years from now — it’s an unknown amount of time when it’ll be finished but, yes, we are working on another record.”