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Strokes Drop New Synth-Punk Single, Claim Influence Over Weeknd, Styles

7/29/2026

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Summary

Story summary

The Strokes released “Lonely in the Future” on Reality Awaits on Friday, before the 25th anniversary of their 2001 debut Is This It.
Julian Casablancas taunts Harry Styles, Drake, The Weeknd and YouTuber Anthony Fantano, claiming the Strokes pioneered ideas later used by them.
Critics say the track recycles synth-punk patterns and that the Strokes’ retro-synth style preceded sounds in The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and Harry Styles’s “As It Was.”

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Story summary

The Strokes released “Lonely in the Future” on Reality Awaits on Friday, before the 25th anniversary of their 2001 debut Is This It.
Julian Casablancas taunts Harry Styles, Drake, The Weeknd and YouTuber Anthony Fantano, claiming the Strokes pioneered ideas later used by them.
Critics say the track recycles synth-punk patterns and that the Strokes’ retro-synth style preceded sounds in The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and Harry Styles’s “As It Was.”