Single Review: The Black Keys – Fever
The Black Keys come out the blocks slowly in new single ‘Fever’ – building from a rumbling bass roll step by step, adding an instrument every four seconds – before a honky-tonk synth is introduced, underscoring the hook laden choral verses. It’s classic Black Keys from the beginning, as a bluesy, country, grunge-y mix of trademark Americana.
The Black Keys are to America, in my opinion, what Elbow are to the UK and with their new record ‘Turn Blue’, I feel they are having their ‘build a rocket boys!’ after the success of their ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ – the incredibly successful and incessantly catchy ‘El Camino’, chocked to the steering wheel with tunes. What I’m saying is, it was always going to be a struggle for duo, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney to replicate the aural beauty of ‘El Camino’ – but what they have done is come out with a palate-pleasing single.
Complete with a trippy as balls stream that will have your eyes turning like screws in the back of your head.
They’re always going to be popular now with tunes from their last album, so arguably this record was a bit of a free hit for the Ohio duo. It’s still along the same lines that were drawn on ‘El Camino’ and have flown through their seven album long career, but ‘Fever’ has nowhere near the funk appeal that ‘Lonely Boy’ and ‘Gold on the Ceiling’ had.
Much like the accompanying video it has a whirling sense of psychedelia, which sees it trip and spin out at random junctures, in a sort of Flaming Lips-ish style.
It’s a nice taste of things to come, but it’s nothing I’m particularly wracking my brains to get out of my head.
7/10
‘Turn Blue’, the next album from the Black Keys, will drop on the 12th of May on Nonesuch Records. Stream ‘Fever’ below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZZUY32iCzU[/youtube]
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