For those who’ve been wondering where The Strokes have been hiding since 2006, here’s one of five answers. Little Joy is drummer Fabrizio Moretti, alongside Los Hermanos’ Rodrigo Amarante and Moretti’s girlfriend Binki Shapiro. Their self-titled debut album appeared late last year on Rough Trade, and is an very different proposition from The Strokes’.

How come?
Rather than a spiky, urban thrill, Little Joy are a more pastoral, laid-back experience. Amarante and Shapiro split vocals throughout the album, with the former contributing a twanging Latin feel and the latter’s smoky, girlish tones falling somewhere between Kimya Dawson and Beth Orton. The Brazil-born Moretti, meanwhile, provides much of the music, including folk-rock and reggae.

How did they all meet?
Moretti and Amarante met at a festival in Lisbon where their respective bands performed. When the Brazilian Amarante travelled to America to work with Devandra Banhart on his 2007 Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album, he and Moretti met up again, and they were both introduced to Shapiro by mutual friends.

What’s next for Little Joy?
A hiatus of their own, when The Strokes reconvene in the spring. Until next time, though, they’ve made a lovely record which goes a little way towards dispelling the myth that drummers shouldn’t write songs.

Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 17 Jan.