The Strokes are recording their upcoming fourth album without frontman Julian Casablancas - the singer will hit the studio to add his vocals once they finish.
The rocker admits he can be a commanding presence in the studio and he thinks removing himself from the recording process will give his bandmates more freedom to be creative.
Casablancas explains, "I'm pretty opinionated. Nothing pushy to the point of it's my way or no way, but I'll hear a song and be like, 'Hmmm, it feels like the bass should be like something different'. Whereas if I feel like I wasn't in the room then they could just kind of spread their wings."
And the frontman is happy with the results so far. He adds, "I think they did a good job. Just tracking the songs. It's been nice to get my hands on it."
The currently untitled album, the follow-up to 2006's First Impressions of Earth, is due for release in September (10).