THE BLACK KEYS – Turn Blue
01. Weight of Love
02. In Time
03. Turn Blue
04. Fever
05. Year in Review
06. Bullet in the Brain
07. It’s Up to You Now
08. Waiting on Words
09. 10 Lovers
10. In Our Prime
11. Gotta Get Away
THE BLACK KEYS‘ current records cover-graphic is a blue and magenta psychedelic swirl sucking your filthy eyes in. It’s hypnotic! A simple but effective design, highly employed by wizards or people with affection to Mushrooms and Bongs. Turn Blue starts wonderful. Swanky guitar solos hover over tangerine sunset. Poetic sustain lifts up those trademark choruses this band so fashionably developed since 2008. Glockenspiel washes the mud off those dirty boots while Flutes come rising with The Weight of Love.
With their eighth long-player THE BLACK KEYS have finally reached their artistic crest. Earlier they should have deleted any reminiscence to fuzz, garage and hard riffing. Dirt and blue weary eyes, only distractions on a surface, have never been the proper key to peoples hearts. The flawless pop-genius those artists now spread over their wide-armed audience is rich in detail and commensurate. Its healthy ingredients are digestive like Bio-Company costumers shopping lists.
In Time disguises a seductive Tango behind its playful outfit and again: The sing-along guitar-solos this combo ‘hammers out’ are immaculate, ready for mass production. Fever gets, smart move, close to Disco when a bouncy synth progression leads into a wavy outro RAZORLIGHT would have loved to stay up all night for. Bullet in the Brain keeps knockin’ on heavens door as it turns around and finds itself dancing to a song by TWIN SHADOW (or equivalent) with a little less sugar on top. It’s Up To You Now hits the little nostalgic note here on the KEYS. This one must have slipped through Danger Mouse’s fingers somehow. Probably while Dan Auerbach and co. were Waiting on Words. And getting it on with a shimmery guitar until Slash himself gave grace and poured a littler glitter on this track. Finally there actually is nothing to say about: In our Prime and (especially not) about the extremely joyful American tune Gotta get Away. Really nothing. Just imagine THE BLACK KEYS at sundown playing the upcoming Festival-Season. Confetti in your hair. A beloved beer. It will be great: chaps!
On their latest record ‘Turn Blue’, the American rock band THE BLACK KEYS actually calls for the imperative.
NBHAP Rating: 2/5
[Note by the editor-in-chief: ‘There might be a decent amount of irony in these words. Just to let you know.’]
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