Julian Casablancas Releasing Box Set For Solo Album, Talks New Strokes Record

Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas' solo debut, Phrazes For The Young, is out Nov. 3 on RCA, but if you wait a few more weeks and shell out around $90, you can get yourself the album plus a nice, shiny box set on Dec. 18.

The set comes in a special antique-ish box with the album on CD and 180-gram vinyl, a 48-page autographed book, a DVD that includes solo acoustic performances, another CD that's got demos and B-sides on it, a poster and a Cult Records pin.

The eight-track album was produced by Jason Lader (Maroon 5) and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Lightspeed Champion) and was recorded in New York City, Los Angeles and Nebraska. You can hear first single "11th Dimension" and "River Of Brakelights" on Casablancas' MySpace page.

If you're wondering whether The Strokes will ever release another studio album, you can keep wondering. Casablancas recently told the U.K.'s The Sun tabloid that the band are arguing over "whether the songs are ready."

"Some of the band think they are and others don't. I'm somewhere in the middle," he said.

"The problem is us getting together. We're scattered everywhere, and apart from when we're rehearsing we don't see each other. We're not like people who go to the movies together. It's weird with the band. A band is actually a great way to ruin a friendship."

The Strokes have been working on the as-yet-untitled album, which will be their fourth, all year. They were previously on hiatus while their members worked on side projects and solo material.

Casablancas will play these dates:

Nov. 13 Los Angeles, CA @ Downtown Palace Theatre
Nov. 20 Los Angeles, CA @ Downtown Palace Theatre
Nov. 27 Los Angeles, CA @ Downtown Palace Theatre

Here are the songs on Phrazes For The Young:

"Out Of The Blue"
"Left & Right In The Dark"
"11th Dimension"
"4 Chords Of The Apocalypse"
"Ludlow St."
"River Of Brakelights"
"Glass"
"Tourist"