The Black Keys
Turn Blue Album Review
Nonesuch Records
Released May 12, 2014
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock, Blues Rock
You must have been living under a rock for the last decade if you haven’t heard of The Black Keys. From their hit albums Brothers and El Camino, songs in movie trailers, and even drummer Patrick Carney’s amusing feud with pop star Justin Bieber, the ubiquity of the band is hard to escape. Starting as a duo from Ohio, the group fused rambunctious alternative rock with classic blues rock to form a sound that quickly gained notoriety. This latest release, Turn Blue, finds the band eight albums deep into their discography, continuing their work with famed producer Danger Mouse, and the band really threw a curveball at us.
The word blue’s meaning is multifaceted. I can go on and on expounding upon what the words “Turn Blue” could mean, or even as drummer Patrick Carney describes the album’s title as “A: Suffocation B: Sadness C: Numbness from extreme cold D: A Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960s named Ghoulardi E: All of the above”. Alas, with the latest release from The Black Keys, the band puts forth their most compelling, gripping, and moody record to date. If you’re looking for The Black Keys you’ve come to love, you won’t find them here. The band is still able to pull off stadium-ready tunes, with enough catchy choruses and melodies to entice a crowd, but the band is dealing with different shades of their craft.
The opener “Weight of Love,” is a towering epic that starts off soft, with an acoustic guitar and bells, before swelling into atmospheric, blues rock heaven, with long, elongated solos, reminiscent of David Gilmour, which makes sense considering it sounds a lot like “Breathe.” At almost seven minutes, this is one of the band’s longest tracks, and one of their most compelling. And this track pretty much sums up the album as a whole: less immediate then their past albums, but much more sprawling and draped, each aspect slowly coming into the fold. Now these tracks won’t necessarily start a party, but they sure get the job done.
The single “Fever” dropped a few weeks back, surprising many with the addition of more prominent synths, along with a notable psychedelic sound. The following single, the lackadaisical “Turn Blue,” carried on this “mellow” trend, but the track may have overstayed its initial welcome; in my opinion, it isn’t one of their strongest tracks. But further in the album, tracks like the psychedelic “Bullet In The Brain,” the bluesy, vintage “Gotta Get Away,” and the aptly titled “In Our Prime”continue to pique interest with their epic solos, groovy bass lines, and primal beats. There’s also no denying the captivating beat of “10 Lovers;” ten seconds in, I guarantee you’ll be hooked.
As I said, you won’t find The Black Keys you’ve come to love here. What was once “black” has know grown into a different shade of color, “blue.” By spiraling into other creative mediums, toying with production, and offering more strengths to the table, The Black Keys find themselves in a new light. With less rock-heavy riffs, and more focus on melody, production, and overall precision, the band creates one of their finest records, not to mention one of the finest records of the year. Auerbach’s croons are as sweet as ever, and Carney’s drumming is steady, yet blatantly, but subtly, wild, as he offers an interesting dynamic to the album. If you’re a fan of The Black Keys at all, you shouldn’t be disappointed; this is a testament to a band at the height of their creative powers.
PRETTY NEAT MUSIC
FAV TRACKS: Weight of Love, Year In Review, It’s Up To You Now, Waiting On Words, 10 Lovers, In Our Prime, Gotta Get Away
LEAST FAV TRACK: Turn Blue
