The Black Keys - El Camino
Indie |
Tuesday 10th July 2012 | Osh
I like music. I love my music. What I do hate is the guy on the bus next to me playing something out loud on his phone. You know the one that sounds like the DJ button on my 90’s Yamaha keyboard, with a few interruptions from a Cascada B-side?
A self-confessed musically confused woman of 21, I can’t tell you a single genre of music I love. My friends and family said it would be a phase but I can’t help but find myself flicking between The Kinks and The Correspondents. So rather than insist I’m a music guru I would call myself a music maverick, but I do get results.
My latest love being The Black Keys , El Camino album. Having just finished my degree I can easily say I owe my dissertation to a mix of this album with the odd girl power hit from Miss Aretha Franklin.
Most people would tell you that all little boys dream of becoming a cowboy one day but I can tell you this girl is ready to don a hat, spurs, chaps and turn this town around. Something about Dan Auerbach’s guitar and vocals takes me too a sandy desert with a broken heart and bottle of so-co. A perfect blend of velvet and gravel Auerbach’s voice lulls you into bed and leaves you with just a note. He may be rough round the edges but those smooth tones will have you crawling back for more, he forever remains the one who got away.
On initial listening to the album the guitar and the beat suggests itself a thousand miles away from Adele’s 21 however on really listening to the lyrics you can’t help but hear a sprinkling of a broken heart from this cowboys gun. My favourite track “Hell of season,” sounds like the cries of a relationship trapped in the Friday night routines and cancelled dinner dates. There is something so refreshing in Auerbach’s lyrics that although his themes may seem predictable and cliche his voice and choice of lyrics bring a new perspective to broken heart music.
An album full of depth with the ability to transport its listener to a new place this album fits a chilled out afternoon , post argument with the other-half or a BBQ on the beach.
And just for the record Auerbach, I’d never hurt you like that.
Becky Tanner-Rolf