The Black Keys have done
it again. Wow, they truly are on an amazing run of form musically and have
completed a hat trick of fantastic albums with their latest release Turn Blue. This come on the back of two
of their best records 2010s Brothers and
2011s El Camino. After changing
things up musically on those last two albums, bringing in soul, pop, glam and
R&B influences, a move which is fair to say alienated many of their
traditional fan base which has been with them since their early blues rock
days, the band have again changed things up on this album, which too my ears
sounds unalike anything else they have done.
Turn
Blue has to be the
grooviest album the Keys have recorded yet and has to dance written all over it
that is if you can take your eyes off the brilliantly mesmerising album cover. Turn Blue has a strong soul and R&B
vibe across its eleven tracks, as well as a slightly subtle hip-hop influence,
a stylistic direction that is largely thanks to Danger Mouse who is again
producing. Danger Mouse’s influence on here is significant and he puts his
production stamp across the whole album, dictating the musical sound and
direction of many of the tracks. He gives the material a slickness that is far
removed from the dirty blues rock of the early Keys albums, but it works well
for the soul/R&B vibe the band have going on here. He also contributes to
what is a psychedelic rock direction for the band on several tracks, with
explosive guitars and wailing keyboards. This man certainly knows no bounds
when it comes to production and there are definitely no boundaries on here. Dan
Auerbach again is the showpiece, with all due respect to Patrick Carney’s
powerful drumming, and it is his dirty energised guitar and falsetto vocals
which dominate the tracks on the album much like as they did on El Camino. It is again these features of
the Keys music which make it so good to listen to, music which at times sounds
quite gorgeous like a good old 60s and 70s R&B, or soul track.
As for the tracks, well
there are some goodies on here, some that are already surely up there with the
bands best work. The album kicks off with the fantastic epic “Weight of Love” a
psychedelic trip of blazing guitars and soulful vocals. This song is a great
way to kick off the album, especially when it begins with two minutes of
swirling Pink Floydish Dark Side of The Moon guitar before any vocals hit in. Definitely
up there in the bands cannon. This is followed by “In Time” a psychedelic soul
track that features Auerbach’s now trademark falsetto vocals and a pounding
drum backbeat. Its more psychedelic rock on the title track “Turn Blue” which
again retains the two styles most prominent on this album, soul and psychedelia
and does it well, while “Fever” the first single, is more like the garage rock
in a pop style seen on El Camino, but
it still kicks some and is also now accompanied by a snappy video which
features Auerbach playing a preacher in a church. “Year in Review” is another
storming soul track with a massive rhythm section, complete also with female
backing vocals that gives the song a modern Motown feel, one of the standout
tracks on the album. This is followed by “Bullet in the Brain”, another psychedelic
track which has a Cream feel to it and would have sounded good in 67. Then
there is “It’s Up to You Now” which although has a rockabilly/Bo Diddley jam
going on, is my least favourite track on here and strikes me as being a bit of
a studio warm up track rather than an album track. Heading in to the back end
of the album “Waiting on Words” is probably the most unalike Black Keys song of
all time and is a bit of a slow pop ballad, which although pleasant enough does
not really possess any notable redeeming features. “10 Lovers” on the other
hand is another brilliant track that has been kidnapped by Danger Mouse and his
production wizardry. This track features a pounding bass line, something that
features strongly on this album more so than their other work. The album closes
out with “In Our Prime” a Lennonesque track which concludes with a minute plus
guitar solo, and heavy rock and roller “Gotta Get Away” featuring a slide
guitar solo that would have made Elmore James proud.
So, in conclusion I believe
this is quite a massive artistic statement by the Black Keys and showcases
their diversity as a music act. They could go back to being a blues rock duo
and I do hope one day they return to their roots, but I am not sure that would entirely
fit in with what they are trying to achieve at the moment. Turn Blue is a very eclectic album full of surprises and very good
moments and again represents another step forward for the band after two very
good albums. Early reviews have been very positive from the hard to please
music critic establishment and I have a slight gut feeling that in ten years or
so people will look back at this period for the Black Keys and conclude that
they were very much at the peak of their career as one of the twenty-first
century’s great rock bands.
A
- Sam
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