Music Review: The Black Keys’ ‘No Rain, No Flowers’ puts a feel-good spin on a turbulent year

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ohio alt-rock band the Black Keys are finding their way home on their 13th full-length LP, “No Rain, No Flowers.”

The journey hasn’t been easy. Last year, the Grammy-winning duo underwent a fiery, public split with their management after their arena tour was unceremoniously canceled. But on “No Rain, No Flowers,” guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney put a feel-good spin on their recent career turbulence. The album pulls the raw blues, psychedelia, garage rock and roots music of their 23-year discography into a single package.

Discerning fans won’t have to look hard for nods to their rough 2024. The opening track begins with a synthesizer-infused post-punk riff that leaves a sense of both inner peace and simmering resentment. After warning “There’s evil people in this world / Live long enough and you will be burned,” Auerbach’s easygoing voice assures that “Baby, the damage is done / It won’t be long ’til we’re back in the sun.”

Their fourth album in five years marks a return to the prolific pace they maintained early on in their career. Underdogs no more, the critically acclaimed duo’s tenure shows itself on this album, in a mix of trusted creative partners and long-admired new collaborators.

And perhaps truer to their name, this iteration of the Black Keys includes a lot more piano. The band says they’ve never worked with someone who writes on the piano like Rick Nowels, who appeared on Lana Del Rey ‘s Auerbach-produced album “Ultraviolence.”

Hip-hop producer Scott Storch plays keyboard on the groovy “Babygirl,” which is part-power pop, part-Rolling Stones with its sharp rhythmic piano and lyrical self-assertiveness. He’s also on “Make You Mine,” where Auerbach’s upper register and a string section push the band as close to Bee Gees’ disco as they’ll get.

But they’re at their best with moody, trance-inducing tracks like “Down to Nothing,” where Auerbach’s guitar elicits the feeling of yearning that’s remained a constant throughout their catalog.

The album leaves listeners with the twangy tones and folksier sounds of Nashville — where many of its contributors work and where Auerbach launched his Easy Eye Sound record label eight years ago. Music City songwriter Pat McLaughlin brings the same Americana sound of Auerbach’s 2017 solo album to the penultimate track “A Little Too High,” an upbeat stomper that evokes The Eagles.

Electronic backing vocals imbue the closer, “Neon Moon,” with the same supernatural undercurrent as Kacey Musgraves’ 2018 “Golden Hour” — both of which credit songwriter Daniel Tashian. Its natural imagery, however, is less complex. “You can find it in the southern sky,” Auerbach sings, “By the light of the neon moon.”

“Take me home / Back to you,” the chorus repeats. “Take me home / Neon moon.”

The Black Keys aren’t quite home with this one. But they’re certainly following the light.