Concertwire.com

Akron, Ohio's The Black Keys are an American blues-rock music duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The brothers are well known for the typical stripped down nature of their blues tracks (most often compared to The White Stripes and they stylings of The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and their newest album 'Brothers' is no exception (expected to be released May 18). This album takes listeners through musical journey, from contemporary hip-hop jams to the hallowed ground of classic R&B, that has resulted in the most cohesive album - and the deepest, steamiest grooves - of the duo's eight-year career. Sessions of creative isolation yielded tunes that have the instantaneous, gotta-hear-it-again pull of a vintage 45; leadoff track "Everlasting Light" sounds like something Marc Bolan of T-Rex might have cut if he'd been signed to Stax. But more than just genre- and decade-hopping fun, there's an emotional candor and narrative quality to the songs that offer a whole new level of soulfulness to the already floorboards-shaking sound of The Black Keys. 'Brothers' is more stripped down than 'Attack & Release', the 2008 album they cut mostly in a vintage studio outside Cleveland with producer Danger Mouse (of Gnarles Barkley) and several guest players. Danger Mouse returned to produce "Tighten Up," but there are no additional musicians, save for Atlanta-based R&B belter Nicole Wray, a former Missy Elliot protege who contributes backing vocals to "Everlasting Light," "Next Girl," and "Howlin' For You." Yet the sound of Brothers feels like another huge step forward. The Black Keys rely on less yet ingeniously achieve more.