Co-headlining the U.K.’s 2010 Isle of Wright Festival with rap icon Jay-Z, the Strokes will be returning to the stage for the first time since October of 2006.

While each member of the infamous New York rock band has broken away in attempts to launch solo projects, the band has not been together in three years, not since the “First Impressions of Earth” album.  However, they will be reuniting in January to work on the group’s fourth album.

Strokes front man, Julian Casablancas, believes that the solo projects have in turn made the bands working relationship lighter, as well as easier. He had this to say on the current situation.

“When we meet with the band and talk and play music, it’s just a different level of ease and comfort,” he says. “Everyone’s more easygoing and everyone feels more confident and just trusts each other a little bit. I think we’ve subtly been feeling urgent about (making a new album), but I don’t want to predict anymore, because every time I make predictions I’m wrong. So I would just leave that alone right now.”

Some of the pieces for Casablancas recent solo project, “Phrazes for the Young,” were first offered to the Strokes, but he decided to take them on himself instead of forcing them on the entire group.

“I’ve been kind of relinquishing (control) in the band, anyway,” Casablancas says. “In the band what we’re trying to do is be more of a collaboration.”

As for now, the Strokes return has just been limited to the U.K. festival headlining, but I have no doubt they will lock down multiple gigs as the reuniting draws near.