Last month, indie rock band The Black Keys released their eighth full-length studio album, Turn Blue. As we’ve seen over the years— especially from their 2010 release, Brothers, and their 2011 release, El Camino—the Black Keys have found their niche in bluesy indie rock. As such, they have consistently submerged themselves in their formulaic sound, and found a way to successfully translate it to the mainstream audience with relative success. With the release of El Camino, the composition of Black Keys’ songs seemed to become more prescribed. Create a bass driven foundation, add in a synthy guitar riff, layer on some bluesy crooning by frontman Dan Auerbach, and you’ve got yourself an effortlessly recognizable song for widespread radio play.
turn blue
artist: the black keys release date: may 12th, 2014
Though the band didn’t stray too far from their usual methods, Turn Blue manages to present a new side of The Black Keys, a side influenced by the groovy stoner rock of the seventies. Thematically, the overall sound of the album is more hypnotically mellow than past releases. The vague, swirling music aligns impeccably with the melancholy lyrical content of Turn Blue.
Whereas old hits like “Tighten Up” boasted half-sleazy content along the lines of “Lovin’ you, baby child/Tighten up on your reigns/You’re runnin’ wild,” the review by new title track “Turn Blue” delves into deeper thought. On it, Auerbach croons, emma andrews “In the dead of the night I start to lose control/But I still carry the weight like I’ve always done before/It gets so heavy at times but what more can I do/I got to stay on track just like pops told me to.” The shift in sound, as well as the more mellow lyrical content, can probably be attributed to Auerbach’s personal struggles with divorce and depression during the album’s formation. Other highlights from the album include the seven-minute long opener, “Weight of Love,” as well as the uncharacteristically straightforward rock anthem, “Gotta Get Away.” Overall, it’s nice to see some change from The Black Keys, and I believe that their risk was well rewarded. Turn Blue demonstrates that stepping even just a foot outside of the conventional comfort zone that some popular, longstanding bands fall into allows for the creation of works that will be more appreciated than the same recycled tunes.