The Black Keys: “No Rain, No Flowers”
Photo via Instagram
Formed in 2001, The Black Keys have now spent decades experimenting with their rock sound. With blues rock origins, the duo has expanded and seen many experimental rock sounds along with their original blues feel. After cancelling the rest of their 2024 tour and firing their management team, the duo found themselves in need of a complete reset.
Photo via Instagram
In their new album No Rain, No Flowers released on August 8th, they use the rock sound to push forward a more groovy feel to their gritty sound. This would act as their triumphant return. Without a little rain, there would be no flowers.
The title track, “No Rain, No Flowers” is first and it offers an introduction to the new style that they are trying to brind to the table. There is a feeling that the album is a complete distraction from the distress of the year before. The second song is “The Night Before” and it’s a bit more upbeat with a catchy guitar melody that really juxtaposes the title track. “Babygirl” is such a fun song and I absolutely loved the little piano sounds and guitar riffs sprinkled throughout.
“Down to Nothing” has some of the hottest guitar I’ve heard in a while. There is no other way to describe it. The last minute of the song has this sexy little guitar riff that really cements the song. “On Repeat” is a fun single that seems to have a somber feel lyrically, yet you wouldn’t know it from the instrumentation. It’s fun, funky and it lingers.
“Make You Mine” has really cool harmonies in the chorus that feel reminiscent of something akin to pop rock sounds. “Man On A Mission” has this really cool tempo switch about halfway through the song that adds a lot of drama. “Kiss It” feels like a drive down with the top down type of song. The disco nature of “All My Life” would feel out of place if it were not for the underlying groove of the rest of the album. “A Little Too High” is pretty floaty and feels a little bit like some CCR songs that I’ve been listening to recently.
The closing song “Neon Moon” feels like them allowing themselves the warm welcome back into calmer waters. They rely on a lot of their collaborators to help them find what feels true to them and this song feels like a more emotion-heavy sound than what they usually produce.
The hooks of all of the songs are sticky. They have managed to worm their way into every nook and cranny of my brain. I like the aesthetics of this album and the fun guitar riffs and I cannot wait to see videos of these songs performed live.