Fresh from Austin's South by Southwest festival, The Black Keys are gearing up for a full-fledged US tour for their forthcoming record, Attack & Release, due out April 1. The new album, produced by Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), earns a perfect five-star review in the Guardian, which exclaims: "Attack & Release isn't just the best Black Keys album thus far. It's the best authentic trad-rock album in years."
Fresh off two successful gigs at Austin's South by Southwest festival, The Black Keys are gearing up for a full-fledged US tour for their forthcoming record, Attack & Release, due out April 1. The new album, produced by Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), earns a perfect five-star review in the Guardian, which exclaims: "Attack & Release isn't just the best Black Keys album thus far. It's the best authentic trad-rock album in years."
The Guardian's Garry Mulholland finds the producer, known, among other things, for his work with bands like Gorillaz and as one half of Gnarls Barkley, to be "as good at reinventing roots-rock as he is at fusing hip hop, soul and pop."
The reviewer describes the album as reminiscent of "early Seventies of rootsy riffage and unashamed guitar virtuosity," all the while "taking in deep soul ('Lies'), art-pop ('Strange Times'), bluegrass-flavoured hip hop ('Psychotic Girl'), jazz-funk ('Same Old Thing'), and Tom Waits ('So He Won't Break')." You can listen to "Strange Times" and "Psychotic Girl" at nonesuch.com/theblackkeys.
Mulholland concludes:
The melodies and Auerbach's rich croon set each mood with seductive precision, while Danger Mouse's production finds endless detail in a beat, a spooked choir of harmonies, a reverberating shimmer. The result is a flawless (post)modernisation of heartland rock that wears its lovelorn pessimism proudly on its ruffled sleeve.
Read the full five-star review at music.guardian.co.uk. You'll find information on the upcoming tour here.
