The Black Keys - ‘Turn Blue'

Strangely, this time around the bass is my least favourite thing - but that’s not to say the Blacks Keys aren’t slowly drawing me in with the next release from upcoming album Turn Blue.

This, the title track, has the Keys shifting further away from the big-venue rock of El Camino towards a soundtrack for a slow drive down the main drag. The guitar is expressive but tight, the beat is simple, and that insistent (annoying?) bass keeps the song swaggering along. There’s no radio-conquering chorus, but the band has produced more than their fair share of those in the past: this is the Black Keys exercising their well-earned right to make music the way they want to, and the strategy looks set to continue producing quality results.

Just under a month to go.