Fans of the Black Keys‘ earlier albums might be surprised to hear that on this new one they teamed up with producer Dangermouse, just for shits and giggles. Seriously, the Keys figured they could learn something new from a producer rather than continue going about with the lo-fi DIY style they had employed previously.

The songs are essentially true to Black Keys form, but a couple tracks have a strange feel to it that you can almost pinpoint as being hip-hop. Tracks like “Psychotic Girl” employ an almost sampled-styled bounce and the addition of more instruments through the album certainly give it a bit more colour. Ultimately, the Black Keys do what they do best and the eleven songs within retain much of their flavour, just with a little bit of someone else’s sugar.

Matt Scheurich