The Black Keys 'Attack & Release' album

On April 1, Nonesuch Records will release The Black Keys’ fifth full-length LP, Attack & Release. The album follows their 2006 critically acclaimed Nonesuch debut Magic Potion, which the Chicago Tribune proclaimed, “a gritty, wild, minimalist masterpiece.” Produced by Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, The Grey Album), Attack & Release was recorded at engineer Paul Hamann’s illustrious Suma Studio outside Cleveland, Ohio. Initial collaboration began when Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton) approached the band to write songs for an album he was developing with the late R&B legend Ike Turner.

As the band began composing tracks for Turner early last year, though, they quickly realized they were actually laying the groundwork for a new album of their own.

Attack & Release thus became The Black Keys’ first collaborative effort, as it morphed into their own album with Danger Mouse as producer. By recording in an actual studio (another first), guitarist-vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney were given the opportunity to add a variety of instruments to their usual simple set-up—including organ, moog, and banjo. “After recording our previous albums in a basement, we were ready to go somewhere else,” Auerbach confesses. “Danger Mouse came in as our collaborator. He has a real ear for melody and arrangement and that was a big part of this record, as was the studio…a really special place.”

Carney concurs: “The place is covered with dust, it smells like a moldy cabin, and it looks like a haunted house. It was fitting for our first time going into a real studio.” He continues, “I think Dan and I were intrigued to work with somebody as a producer, and with an engineer like Paul, because we both realized we couldn’t teach ourselves anything more and it was best to start learning from other people.”

Besides Auerbach, Carney, and Danger Mouse’s work, other contributions on Attack & Release include guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney (Patrick’s uncle)—both veterans of, among other things, Tom Waits’ band. The closing track, “Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be,” features Auerbach singing along side eighteen-year-old bluegrass/country-singer Jessica Lea Mayfield.

On March 27, the band will begin a national tour that will include stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

“...rock of this caliber is really timeless.”––Rolling Stone

tour dates
March 27 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
March 28 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
March 29 San Diego, CA House of Blues
March 30 Pomona, CA Glasshouse
April 1 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre
April 2 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
April 4 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
April 5 Seattle. WA Showbox SoDo
April 6 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
April 9 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
April 10 Omaha, NE Slowdown
April 11 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
April 12 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
April 13 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
April 15 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
May 12 Washington D.C. 9:30 Club
May 13 Washington D.C. 9:30 Club
May 15 New York, NY Terminal 5
May 16 Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore at Theater of Living Arts
May 17 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre

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The Black Keys - Attack & Release