The Black Keys Release Raw New Album 'Peaches!' Amid Personal Tragedy

The Black Keys have released their new album 'Peaches!', a raw and spontaneous recording born from personal tragedy. Following the cancer diagnosis and subsequent death of Dan Auerbach's father Chuck, the duo entered Auerbach's studio with three guest musicians to jam without preparation. The album draws from songs the band had collected for their DJ sets, covering tracks by R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, George Thorogood, and Dr. Feelgood. Auerbach describes it as the most natural Black Keys album since their 2002 debut 'The Big Come Up'. The recording process involved real-time arrangements with no rehearsals, with Auerbach signaling chord changes and even stepping on guitarist Kenny Brown's effects pedal. The album includes a seven-minute closing track 'Nobody but You Baby' featuring hypnotic repetition around a single chord. Junior Kimbrough's son Kinney Kimbrough appears as a second drummer on 'Fireman Ring the Bell'. The cover art, like that of 2021's 'Delta Kream', is a photograph by William Eggleston. Auerbach insists 'Peaches!' should be seen as a great Black Keys album rather than a covers record.