The Black Keys’ newest album, Ohio Players, is a whole rich with collaborations, love for genres and surprises, and what the band does best. Review on the turntable.
OHIO PLAYERS – THE BLACK KEYS
Since 2019, childhood friends and strong heads from The Black Keys have been on a roll. Ohio Players is their twelfth record since their debut, over twenty years ago. It’s also their third since the ‘end’ of the pandemic. Magic is at work. If I’ve overlooked several of their opuses, Ohio Players piqued my interest and reminded me that, yeah, The Black Keys are still kind of cool. Maybe because it holds something so familiar in it, chill yet visceral. Maybe it’s because it’s polished and surprising at the same time. And it may also be because of the fine collaborations that don’t overpower their nature. They are rather adding some layers to play with.
But what are those collaborations? Well, a large part of this record has been written with Beck. The Beck. And the risk that comes with him is that his wonderful talent and powerful songwriting get Auerbach and Carney off track. I indeed wanted to jokingly start this review by saying it’s a great Beck’s record. But, all jokes aside, if his unique sound marks the seven tracks he co-wrote, there’s a great balance with the original blues-rock band universe. And this weather he’s on the guitar, a clear featuring, or backing vocals. The Black Keys keep their saturation, muffled vocals, deep basses and clear drums. The same thing can be said for Noel Gallagher, another massive guest with a clearly defined universe, jotting down some ballads, with an Ohio flair.
This is Nowhere is a fresh opening with pop accents, and confirms that associating Auerbach and Carney with Beck makes sense. Catchy a.f., it’s not the only one that’ll get people singing along. Just a listen to Don’t Let Me Go is proof of it, or even the first single Beautiful People (Stay High), two tracks produced by Dan ‘the Automator’ Nakamura. If some see in it a faux-pas for taking a sample from Richard Mead’s advertisement repertoire, I see a great way to let your hair down and get wild. A commercial track to its core, it’s one that tickles, makes you wonder what else is in there, and echoes with some of their previous commercial success.
Gallagher’s mark shines over the chorus of the excellent On The Game, although a tad less on the upbeat Only Love Matters. The thing with The Black Keys is that they can shock – if we let them – and Ohio Players is heavy in that sense. The first big surprise takes the shape of Candy and Her Friends. Written by Auerbach and Carney, the song first sounds like a nice classic from the band. But it goes further when Lil Noid, a Memphis-based rapper, comes in with his spotless vocals and flow. Hypnotic, the track’s evolution takes me aback and turns it into an unmissable. How can I resist that chorus anyway? After this, the band takes a breath with a nice cover of the classic soul song I Forgot to Be Your Lover. And, of course, the Ohio players do know their classics.
Now Playing: Beautiful People (Stay High)
To keep the classic vibes up, they get on with the saturated and chaotic Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied). It’s an overall great track, for sure, that goes wild but contains the duet’s core. Gallagher is back and co-signs You’ll Pay. It’s subtle and barely noticeable in that groove. With a punch, Beck is back too, and joined by Juicy J. on the excellent incredible and unmissable Paper Crown. The legend makes it impressively worth it with the rock-hip-hop mix he creates with the duet, and promising a fiery live version in the process.
Beck stays for three out of four of the last song. There’s the rock yet weaker Live Till I Die. He steps aside for the cinematographic Read Em and Weep, and then comes back on Fever Tree. Here, it smells like the end of the road. Vibrant, nostalgic, on a pop-blues, it could have stopped there, I wouldn’t have been mad at them. But the band does better and closes with Every Time You Leave. And it’s a well-rounded reminder of their best riffs. I get shivers. It’s like a mini-banger that brings back some warmth. And that’s why Ohio Players is a very well-done album by The Black Keys.
Sure, maybe some will find there are too many collaborations on it and that they could have kept it subtle. But I really see them as a need to try new things, to just enjoy the process, and that’s why it works so well. They are into it, and so are we. Isn’t it why you’d make an album in the first place, especially that kind? Anyway. With its marbled blue, matching the bowling ball’s blue on the cover, my version of the LP is clearly up for more spins in the coming days. If it isn’t their best album ever, the quirky duet still has made it one to place on top of many others.
The Black Keys will tour the UK and Europe from the 27 April, with three shows in London and two in Paris, early May.
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