New Skin

2016 debut album from Crx, a side project for Strokes lead guitarist Nick Valensi. The album was produced by Josh Homme. The urge to begin a new project came from a primal place for Valensi, he just wanted to play. But Valensi couldn't start playing until he'd written some songs, and he realized he'd have to finally embrace an aspect of performing he'd resisted up until that point - singing. Last summer, he just dug in, grabbing whatever spare time he had to record demos on his laptop at home. As the songs progressed, Valensi invited a few trusted musician friends to join him and to contribute as songwriters. In addition to Valensi on guitar and vocals, Crx includes bassist Jon Safley, keyboardist/vocalist Richie Follin, drummer Ralph Alexander, and guitarist Darian Zahedi. New Skin was recorded at Josh Homme's Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, with work wrapping up in early 2016. And even as this year marks the fifteenth anniversary of The Strokes first LP, it represents the beginning of a promising new chapter for Valensi.