The Strokes SNL performance on Saturday Night Live marked the New York rock band’s fifth time as musical guest, and they used the occasion to showcase two tracks from their latest album, Reality Awaits. The group opened with “Lonely in the Future” before returning later in the episode for “Going Shopping.”
The nine-track album follows 2020’s The New Abnormal, which the band also promoted with an SNL appearance that year. Like its predecessor, Reality Awaits was produced by Rick Rubin. Recording began in 2022 in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where the band set up outside a rented house atop a mountain.
Rubin described the unusual arrangement on Joe Rogan’s podcast in October of that year, explaining that the band played outdoors each day with the ocean as a backdrop. He recalled that the setting felt like a concert for the ocean and that the musicians were reluctant to leave. Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., who has called the album his favorite, suggested that describing the location and method would not fully convey the experience of recording there.
Additional sessions took place at Rubin’s southern California studios, Shangri-La and The Mansion. The combination of the Costa Rica setting and the California rooms shaped the album that the band brought to the SNL stage.
A Second Song and a Familiar Face
For “Going Shopping,” the Strokes were joined by Walton Goggins, who starred in the song’s music video. Goggins played bongo drums during the performance, adding a live element that connected the broadcast to the song’s visual companion.
The appearance kept the band’s SNL history going: their first stint as musical guest came years earlier, and the 2020 slot supported The New Abnormal. With the latest visit, the Strokes have now performed on the show five times, a milestone that few musical acts reach.
The two songs performed, “Lonely in the Future” and “Going Shopping,” represent the album’s range within the confines of a late-night broadcast. The first opened the show’s musical segment, while the second closed it, with Goggins’s percussion adding a distinct texture to the latter.
Reality Awaits: A Album Shaped by Its Surroundings
Reality Awaits contains nine tracks and was made with Rubin, who also produced The New Abnormal. The Costa Rica sessions, held in 2022, involved the band playing outside daily at the rented mountain house. Rubin’s account emphasized the ocean view and the band’s enjoyment of the process, while Hammond’s comments pointed to an intangible quality that he felt was difficult to put into words.
The additional recording at Shangri-La and The Mansion in southern California completed the project. The album’s title and songs, including the two performed on SNL, reflect the body of work that emerged from those sessions.
The Strokes’ return to Studio 8H also highlighted the band’s continued relationship with SNL, which has now hosted them five times. The performance placed new material in front of a national audience and paired the band with a guest musician for one of the two songs.