A searing guitar solo layered with a fat bass riff and a funky beat—this album had me with the trippy and almost seven-minute-long opener “Weight of Love.” Turn Blue is the Black Keys’ eighth full-length album and follows the duo’s 2011 hit El Camino. Produced by Danger Mouse, Dan Auerbach, and Patrick Carney, it features 11 new tracks which the band say could refer to “suffocation, sadness, numbness from extreme cold, a Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960s named Ghoulardi, or all of the above.” The album explores new moods, textures, and sounds, and has a distinct Danger Mouse influence (think Broken Bells and Norah Jones). It’s a mellow affair with a few exceptions like “Fever,” and “Gotta Get Away.” “Bullet of the Brain” is a highlight that bears a distinct resemblance to Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” fused with the Keys’ signature groove.
[rating:4]
– Michelle McChristie
