One Track Mind: The Black Keys, “Turn Blue” from Turn Blue (2014)

Share this:

The Black Keys keep their foot off the gas pedal on the title track from the upcoming Turn Blue, offering a quietly effective journey into falsetto-sung heartache — like a stripped-down, next-gen update of the Temptations’ Psychedelic Shack.

The throwback feel of the album’s debut track “Fever,” which included a Farfisa organ, continues here as surging strings convey fate’s sudden turn — while a pulsing bass line coils the tension to palpable levels. A shattered-sounding Dan Auerbach is left, finally, to quietly contemplate the hell no one wants to admit is just below.

As such, the Danger Mouse-helmed Turn Blue (due May 13, 2014) looks to be the cool-out polar opposite of 2011’s El Camino. That balls-out record, if anything, recalled the roaringly primitive garage rock of their pre-Danger Mouse days, something the Black Keys began turning away from once he arrived to produce 2008’s Attack and Release.

If, in fact, they are tossing aside the turn-it-to-11 riffs and foundation-cracking hooks that made El Camino such a perfect selection when the car windows were rolled down, Turn Blue might just require a change in scenery. With “Fever” and “Turn Blue,” at least, best head back home and draw the blinds. We might even suggest pulling down your favorite brown bottle for company.

[amazon_enhanced asin=”B005URRCUY” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B003AO1SVS” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00J7UL6V6″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0014QABX0″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B000063WDH” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]

Nick DeRiso