With more than twenty years of career, The Black Keys are Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, childhood friends who come to present at NOS Alive’23, their 11th album, Dropout Boogie (2022), the band’s most personal to date that confirms when the duo enters a room with no distractions other than their instruments, the songs come instantly. With nothing written, they left the studio 10 days later with a nearly finished album, considered the best execution of the band’s best instincts in a ten-song testimonial.
Auerbach comments, “It was very easy and we didn’t talk about it before. We were living in the moment, playing music, and following our instincts the whole time. This has always been the beauty that Pat and I make. It is instantaneous.”
Although they pride themselves on this ability to work together instinctively, both say that the experience of the previous album, Delta Kream, has renewed their chemistry. It was the band’s fifth consecutive debut in the Billboard 200 top 10, reaching new career highs for The Black Keys in several countries, in addition to a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2021.
By pure coincidence, the release of Dropout Boogie happened the day before the twentieth anniversary of their debut album, The Big Come Up (2002), one of the duo’s most acclaimed. They were recently nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance.
The Black Keys will perform on NOS Stage on July 6, 2023 the year that marks the 15th edition of the festival.