The Black Keys might be best known for being a garage-rock duo, but over time, the twosome of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney has proven to be far more than that limiting definition.
Since the childhood friends founded the band in 2001, the Ohio natives have dabbled in psychedelic rock (2014’s “Turn Blue”), recorded a platter full of hill country blues songs (2021’s “Delta Kream”) and collaborated on a hip-hip project with Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash featuring performances by Mos Def, Q-Tip and Ludacris (2009’s “BlakRoc”).
The band’s next album, the forthcoming “No Rain, No Flowers,” which is set to drop on Aug. 8, finds The Black Keys drawing inspiration from their record hangs — dance parties where Auerbach and Carney take turns spinning rare vinyl 45s that are the fuel for the groove-driven, danceable vibes that infuse this latest collection of songs.
Fans of the duo can get a taste when the group hits the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 3.
“The thing is that Dan and my tastes are such that we both have a similar work ethic and tastes,” Carney said in a mid-May interview. “With this album, it’s an intentional four-on-the-floor [approach]. We’ve never done much intentional four-on-the-floor type stuff or an up-tempo dance kind of thing. How do we contextualize this? The reference point is listening to the Giorgio Moroder-produced Sparks album [1979’s “No. 1 in Heaven”] and watching the band evolve through the years.”
As has been the case in recent years (the Black Keys’ collaborations have included Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Beck and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top), collaboration was a key component throughout “No Rain, No Flowers.” In this case, those partnerships came via songwriters Rick Nowels (Stevie Nicks/Adele) and Scott Storch (The Roots/Snoop Dogg/The Game). It was an effort to keep the creative process interesting.
“We wrote about half this album with Rick Nowels, who is a guy we became acquainted with through Dan’s work with Lana Del Rey (on her 2014 album “Ultraviolence”),” Carney explained, “Rick had written a bunch of songs with Lana. We’d never actually gotten in the studio before with a ‘songwriter.’ We’ve worked with other musicians and we were curious to see what Rick was all about.”
He added, “Scott was someone we admired through watching a lot of his posts on Instagram and YouTube. I had a hunch that he’s got to be some kind of killer musician, and when we finally got him in the studio, we found out he might be the best musician we’ve ever played with. He’s operating on a whole different level musically. Being in the studio with Scott and Rick was the first time we were writing with keyboard players. One of the fun things was trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between guitar and keyboard. I think that’s something that’s all over the album and kind of ties it together.”
With 13 studio albums under their collective belts, The Black Keys are gearing up for a U.S. tour, only the band’s third such outing since 2014. Given the depth of the band’s catalog, crafting the show is a challenging, yet welcome prospect; Carney is relishing it.
“We’re making a conscious effort to pull some deeper stuff out of the catalog that we haven’t played in a while,” he said. “I’m very conscious of what I’d want to see from a band at a concert. There are a lot of songs that we definitely have to play pretty much every night, so we will be playing those. Plus, having 11 gold singles — that’s over half a set right there if you’re going to play everything.
“This is going to be fun and we’re excited to tour the U.S. It’s the European tours that become a bit of a drag and I don’t know why,” Carney said. “Dan and I were talking about it today. I’m excited to play a show anywhere in the U.S. because it feels so familiar. I feel like I can just rent a car and [screw around]. It’s a little different when you wake up in Dresden and try to figure out what to do for the day. But I think also having two little kids, it’s much harder to pull away from that distance when you’re in Europe.”
In addition to all the recording and touring the Black Keys have done in the nearly quarter century Auerbach and Carney have been musical partners, both music obsessives run their own recording studios, Easy Eye Sound and Audio Eagle Studio respectively. And while both musical workaholics lean into the grind, Carney is amused by how much of what and he and his creative partner do flies under the radar for most people.
“It’s funny talking about how this is our 13th album, but aside from that, Dan has probably produced 50 to 60 albums in the past 15 years and I’ve probably done another 15 myself,” he pointed out. “Then you mention my projects, Dan’s solo stuff and The Arcs, I think we’re always trying to make something a little bit different, and I think it makes our career way harder to not be making the same thing over and over.”
“Music is our biggest passion and what we’re most interested in,” Carney added, “and so our tastes are always changing. To keep ourselves interested, you kind of have to move the needle or change the perspective. I look at a band like AC/DC, Green Day or a group that makes similar records, it just makes things way easier doing that. You have a known fanbase that you’re working toward. I’m sure half the people that will read this will wonder why the [hell] the Black Keys are working with Scott Storch?”
The Black Keys
When: Tuesday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.
Where: The Greek Theatre, 2700 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tickets: Start at $89 at ticketmaster.com.
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