Review Summary: An almost perfect combination of lush fun and neo-blues.
It was all drawing itself up sooner or later, that The Black Keys’ new found fame was going to leave them to alienate their fans with higher quality production and appeal to a larger audience. The longest time between writing and recording albums was due to The Black Keys’ becoming so booked with touring, they needed a rest. They were surely up to something with such time on their hands. Though this album may be the most polarizing release to date from The Black Keys’ due to its fiercely produced Danger Mouse trademark sound and the wanting for a psychedelic atmosphere, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have let their creative juices run wild this time around. They were not going to make the same album over and over. This is what they needed. Just about all their albums with the exception of perhaps El Camino have been straight up gritty and familiar blues rock, paying tribute to old time classics like Muddy Waters, Junior Kimbrough and the like. Ever since Attack and Release, The Black Keys have been finding their own signature sound and arguably becoming more original in the blues category. Turn Blue is a refreshing modern take on an old formula, this time drawing more variation like El Camino did with its upbeat rock, n, roll influences. It keeps the game changing for the genre and The Black Keys should be proud of their artistic success and not being afraid to try something new. They were made to experiment like this.
Turn Blue really the type of record that pays off listening to it multiple times. There are so many little oddball production choices lingering in each song, playing the album through headphones Is the best idea for getting the best experience. Now how about that lead single you all have been on the fence about? Don’t worry, I can undoubtedly say that it is the weakest track on here, but listening to it through the album, not by itself, proves to be more enjoyable. It has grown on me quite a bit, and the synths linked throughout each song, such as on “10 Lovers”, remind me of a 50’s or 60’s type vibe. Synthesizers aren’t always a bad thing in rock music, just ask The Who. Another thing about Fever that has strangely peaked my interest is the lyrics. They are very ambiguous, but this isn’t really anything new with regards to The Black Keys, although I can say that this time the lyrics are a little more meaningful, more so than El Camino. Obviously you are not going to be hearing deep story told lyrics (which actually would have been really cool), but the vocal melodies play a bigger role to get stuck in your head and hey, the lightly vague lyrics help better relate the listener into making their own story or providing their own background and memories into the song. If it wasn’t for the melodies, then the vocals altogether would have been a problem.
Its tracks like “Weight of Love” that showcases the magnificent flow of Danger Mouse’s musical engineering capabilities. The song is layered of smooth, “Hotel California” tone type guitar solos. This song really goes to show that The Black Keys should have been doing guitar solos like these much sooner. Bass riffs are splattered on heavy on many tracks that dig the song deep into a hypnotic groove, most present on, “In Time” and “10 Lovers”, two of my personal favorites on the record due to the play-ability of the choruses that you just can’t run from. It is true, that there are definitely some straight forward songs on Turn Blue consisting of the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus lingo. If there were more dynamics in the song structures like “Weight of Love” or “In Our Prime” then full listens to this album would be a lot easier. Especially throughout the middle tracks of the album. It is safe to say that the few beginning and ending tracks of Turn Blue are the highlights or the album. They still need to work on slower acoustic tracks, “Waiting on Words” being, not a bad song, but kind of boring when listened to by itself.
Then the final track kicks in, “Gotta Get Away.” The entire time we have heard Auerbach’s soulful falsetto and crunching baritone wailing through the pain of love, background history between his recent divorce with his wife, and suddenly this fun arena rock track hits home. “I went from San Berdoo, to Kalamazoo just to get away from you. I searched far and wide, hopin' I was wrong, but baby all the good women are gone.” This final track serves as an ultimate lesson in the blues, that you can’t escape that one lonesome feeling, yet you forcefully move on. When you are done foot tapping to the heavily Creedence Clearwater Revival influenced song, you are left with an almost melancholy mindset. That the road you are traveling looks like it goes on forever, but maybe there is still a little hope further on down the world’s highway. They certainly have not abandoned the blues, and I give The Black Keys a well-deserved round of applause.
