At the Door

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"At the Door"
The Strokes - At the Door.png
Single by The Strokes
from the album The New Abnormal
ReleasedFebruary 11, 2020
Studio Shangri-La (Malibu, California)
Genre
Length5:10
Label
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s) Julian Casablancas
Producer(s) Rick Rubin
The Strokes singles chronology
"All the Time"
(2013)		"At the Door"
(2020)		"Bad Decisions"
(2020)
Music video
"At the Door" on YouTube

"At the Door" is a song by American rock band The Strokes. The song was released on February 11, 2020, as the lead single from their sixth studio album, The New Abnormal (2020). [1] An accompanying animated music video was released on the same day. [2]

Contents

Composition

"At the Door" lacks drums and percussion [3] [4] and primarily features Julian Casablancas' vocals accompanied by a digital guitar. [5] It has been described as a synth-pop song by multiple writers [6] [7] as well as a "stark change of pace" for the band by NME 's Ella Kemp. [8] In a review for the Chicago Tribune , Mark Kennedy wrote, "Casablancas knows he is a lost soul, but offers hope: “Use me like an oar/Get yourself to shore." [9] Caleb Campbell of Under the Radar described it as a "synth-led slow burn of a track" with a "heart wrenching vocal performance from Julian Casablancas". [10] Writers noted Giorgio Moroder [11] as well as Casablancas' side project The Voidz [10] as possible influences for the song. Kemp also stated that the song includes "contemplative lyrics" that "Casablancas sings to someone we will never know". [8]

Music video

The video was done in the style of 1980s animation and tells several roughly interlinked stories. [12] The stories are:

The last shot of the video is of the boy wandering his abandoned home before the video cuts away to a shot of a futuristic, edenic place as Casablancas sings about "waiting on the other side". The video's director and writer, Mike Burakoff, explains its meaning as: "There’s a feeling when you are growing up that you are just leaving for a second to go get something, that you’ll be right back. But reality is not the same as a memory, you can’t go back. Something or some time that feels so close to you can be impenetrably far away. It’s a feeling of loss that I get when I think about certain memories from my past. That notion is at the heart of this video… How do these different characters deal with loss? What does it feel like to face the future?" [12] The video premiered at a campaign rally for 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. [12] The video was inspired by films of the 1970s and 1980s such as Watership Down , The NeverEnding Story , Heavy Metal , and other films of the era. [12]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2020)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) [15] 44
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [16] 18

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References

  1. ↑ Bloom, Madison (February 10, 2020). "The Strokes Announce New Album, Debut Songs at Bernie Sanders Rally: Watch". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Strokes Reveal 'The New Abnormal' Album Details: Hear First Song 'At the Door' & See Track List". Billboard . January 22, 2020.
  3. ↑ Moores, JR (April 9, 2020). "Where Is The Love? The Strokes' The New Abnormal Reviewed". The Quietus . Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ Freedman, Max (April 6, 2020). "The Strokes Are Distracted and Determined on The New Abnormal". Paste . Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Fantano, Anthony; Casablancas, Julian (December 1, 2020). Julian Casablancas INTERVIEW (YouTube video). The Needle Drop. Event occurs at 13:04. Retrieved December 3, 2020. [It] sounds like a keyboard that, you know, Nick is playing, but it's actually a guitar. One of those . . . digital guitars.
  6. ↑ Aroesti, Rachel (April 10, 2020). "The Strokes: The New Abnormal review – old magic lights fresh sparks". The Guardian . Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ Harvilla, Rob (April 10, 2020). "Over It: The Strokes Are Still Ultra Cool and Totally Exhausted—Just 20 Years Older". The Ringer . Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Kemp, Ella (April 6, 2020). "The Strokes – 'The New Abnormal' review: proof that they're still the best riff-makers around". NME . Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ Kennedy, Mark (April 8, 2020). "The Strokes triumph on their 1st album in 7 years". Chicago Tribunal. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Campbell, Caleb (April 9, 2020). "The Strokes: The New Abnormal". Under the Radar . Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ "The Strokes - The New Abnormal". Clash . April 6, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brewer, Jenny (February 21, 2020). "Exploring the 80s animation references in The Strokes' At The Door video". It's Nice That. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  13. ↑ The New Abnormal (vinyl sleeve). The Strokes. Cult Records; RCA Records. 2020. 19439-70588-1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ↑ Strokes, The (December 29, 2020). E4/4 5guys talking about things they know nothing about. Meet the Producers ~The Strokes (Youtube video). The Strokes. Event occurs at 31:48. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  15. ↑ "The Strokes – At the Door" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  16. ↑ "The Strokes Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
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