Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch RecordsAfter a five-year wait, a new Black Keys album is finally here. The ninth studio effort from the Akron, Ohio duo is titled called “Let’s Rock,” and is out today.
“When we’re together, we are The Black Keys, that’s where that real magic is, and always has been since we were sixteen,” says guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach of the new album.
“The record is like a homage to electric guitar,” adds drummer Patrick Carney. “We took a simple approach and trimmed all the fat like we used to.”
The Black Keys officially announced their return in March with the single “Lo/Hi,” which immediately started to run up the Billboard rock charts. In fact, it became the first song ever to simultaneously lead the four lists that measure airplay on rock stations: Mainstream Rock Songs, Alternative Songs, Adult Alternative Songs and Rock Airplay, the most recent of which launched in 2009.
“Lo/Hi” was then followed by the tracks “Eagle Birds” and “Go.”
In the half-decade since the release of the last Black Keys album, 2014’s Turn Blue, Auerbach and Carney have kept busy with different projects. Auerbach released a solo album, 2017’s Waiting on a Song, and started a new band, The Arcs, while Carney produced his now-wife Michelle Branch‘s 2017 album Hopeless Romantic.
The length of the hiatus also led to rumors that a personal rift had developed between Auerbach and Carney. They made fun of those rumors in the video for “Go,” which found the pair taking part in band therapy at a meditation retreat.
The Black Keys will launch a North American tour in support of “Let’s Rock” September 23 in Denver. Modest Mouse will also be on the bill.
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