Black Keys

In the August heat of 2009, The Black Keys left a Brooklyn studio—where they’d been working with an all-star posse of MCs—for 10 days in creative isolation at the historic Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. Their geographical trek mirrored a musical journey, from contemporary hip-hop jams to the hallowed ground of classic R&B, that has resulted in the most cohesive album—and the deepest, steamiest grooves—of the duo’s eight-year career. These sessions yielded tunes that have the instantaneous, gotta-hear-it-again pull of a vintage 45; leadoff track “Everlasting Light” sounds like something Marc Bolan of T-Rex might have cut if he’d been signed to Stax. But more than just genre- and decade-hopping fun, there’s an emotional candor and narrative quality to the songs that offer a whole new level of soulfulness to the already floorboards-shaking sound of The Black Keys. Brothers is, in many ways, the culmination of a tumultuous period for Auerbach and Carney as they juggled personal challenges with creative opportunities. For the first time in a career of non-stop touring and recording, Auerbach and Carney embarked on projects of their own, on top of their dates for The Black Keys. Auerbach made his solo debut, Keep It Hid, and hit the road with a full band; Carney picked up the bass for his own combo, Drummer, comprising five notable Ohioan drummers, only one of whom actually sits behind the kit on their disc, Feel Good Together. Carney, in the midst of a divorce, relocated to New York City from Akron, where Auerbach continues to reside with his young family and has built his own studio, Easy Eye Sound System, modeled after the great live rooms of the ‘50s and ‘60s. (“It’s the nicest studio I’ve been to,” quips Auerbach, “because it was made for me.”) The pair came to Brooklyn at the behest of rap mogul Damon Dash, a fan of The Black Keys who’d invited them to work with rapper Jim Jones. That idea morphed into a bona fide super-session between the boys and some serious hip-hop figures that they wanted to collaborate with, including Mos Def, Raekwon, Q-Tip, and RZA. The result was the independently released Blakroc, a hip hop-R&B hybrid that the NME called “genuinely organic, a common ground of moods … with a slinky, groovy, maxi-fuzzed blues rock to match [the MC’s] swagger.” No sooner had they wrapped the Blakroc dates then they were on their way to Muscle Shoals to find out where their inspiration might lead.

TRY: #1, 2, 3, 5

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http://www.theblackkeys.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theblackkeys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Keys
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Black+Keys
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126607501
http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/the-black-keys
http://www.nonesuch.com/sites/nonesuch/files/imagecache/section-albums-coverart/albums/coverart/black-keys-brothers-338-300.jpg
http://pitchfork.com/news/38059-the-black-keys-announce-new-album/