The Black Keys announce new album ‘Ohio Players’
American indie duo The Black Keys have unveiled ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’, the lead track taken from their forthcoming new album Ohio Players.
The single, which arrived on January 12th, was co-written by famed producer Dan the Automator along with Beck. The Californian songwriter, who is a close friend of The Black Keys, has not released any new solo work of his own since ‘Thinking About You’ last year. However, during a recent tour by The Black Keys, Beck appeared onstage in Paris to perform his smash hit ‘Loser’.
The accompanying music video released alongside ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’, features a call-back to the video for 2011’s ‘Lonely Boy’. In the clip, security guard Derrick T. Tuggle can be seen lip-syncing along with The Black Keys track whilst dancing, in a similar vein to his appearance in the earlier video.
Ohio Players is set for release on April 5th, and it will be their first full-length album since 2022’s Dropout Boogie. A rumoured track listing circulating online suggests Beck will feature once more on the album, on a track entitled ‘Paper Crown’ alongside rapper Juicy J.
Elsewhere on the album, the duo collaborated with Noel Gallagher. The collaboration reportedly occurred in early 2023 when The Black Keys visited the UK. At the time, the Oasis songwriter told Rolling Stone, “We did a week in the studio in London and wrote three songs and I’ve gotta tell you, they’re fucking amazing.”
Gallagher’s appreciation for the indie rockers was clearly reciprocated, with Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney telling NME, “He’s hilarious and super talented, we were referring to him as ‘The Chord Lord’ because he’s just a perfectionist with it.”
Watch the video for the new track ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’ below.
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