The Black Keys: PEACHES ‘N KREAM

The story of Ohio Players-The Black Keys ‘twelfth studio album and a record unlike any other in their long ride through deep blues and soul power-begins on a Saturday in February 2003. Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney were on the road supporting their debut album, 2002’s The Big Come Up, opening for Sleater-Kinney at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, when the headliners invited them to a party after the gig: the traditional bash following the broadcast of Saturday Night Live with the TV show’s cast and guests. “This is insane-of course, we want to go,” Carney recalls. “We said ‘How are you getting in?’ ‘Our friend Beck played tonight.'” Auerbach and Carney were school friends in Akron, Ohio, not yet a band, when Beck’s 1993 single “Loser” -a landmark fusion of Delta blues, hip-hop churn, and post-punk lyricism-hit them like a bomb. “His aesthetic was incredible,” Auerbach says today. “He wore his influences on his sleeve, and we learned from that. There was someone showing us a way to go.” At the SNL party, Carney handed Beck an advance copy of The Black Keys ‘next album, Thickfreakness. Three weeks later, they were offered the opening slot on Beck’s 2003 Sea Change tour. “The Beck influence on The Black Keys was massive,” Carney states gratefully. “He was one of our most vocal, early supporters.” Beck is now all over Ohio Players, collaborating with The Black Keys as a writer, singer, and instrumentalist on seven of the album’s fourteen tracks. Also contributing across this all-star affair are ex-Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher (three songs); the pioneering hip-hop producer Dan The Automator (two tracks); Memphis-rap cult legends Juicy J and Lil Noid; Leon Michels, who plays with Auerbach in the Arcs; and superstar producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters), who first met The Black Keys when he was in Beck’s band on that 2003 tour. Many of the backing musicians on Ohio Players are veterans of Black Keys sessions and Auerbach’s productions at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. “We had this epiphany-we can call our friends to help us make music,” Carney explains. “It’s funny because we both write songs with other people” for solo and side projects. “But we got to this maturity as a band where not only can we call these friends, but we can deliver music our idols want to play on.” “We were unafraid to have fun,” Auerbach says, “and dip into everything we’ve always loved”-something he and Carney do as DJs, hosting record-party nights in clubs with their favorite 45s and rare-vinyl finds. “When we’re DJ-ing, we’re playing cumbia, soul, rockabilly. It’s all over the place. When it came time to gather songs for this album, it was that spirit of tying it all together.” Ohio Players opens with the thick, funky stride of “This Is Nowhere,” born at The Black Keys ‘first writing date with Beck at Easy Eye in 2022. The album then swings in mood and groove from the densely layered party time of “Beautiful People (Stay High),...