{"id":199707,"date":"2025-06-20T11:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199707\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:13:12","slug":"there-was-more-to-it-than-the-tour-but-making-this-record-helped-us-work-through-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199707\/","title":{"rendered":"There was more to it than the tour, but making this record helped us work through it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Black Keys<\/a> have told NME about how their new album \u2018No Rain, No Flowers\u2019 marks an optimistic new chapter for them after a chaotic 2024. Check out mesmerising new single \u2018Man On A Mission\u2019 below, along with our interview with the duo.<\/p>\n

News of their 13th album arrived last month<\/a>, hot on the heels of last year\u2019s \u2018Ohio Players<\/a>\u2019. Today (June 20), The Black Keys have shared the latest preview of the album after the title track, \u2018The Night Before\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Babygirl\u2019,<\/a> in the form of captivating \u2018Man On A Mission\u2019.<\/p>\n

Set for release on August 8 via Easy Eye Sound\/Parlophone (pre-order here<\/a>), the record also follows a tumultuous time for frontman Dan Auerbach<\/a> and drummer Patrick Carney, with them being forced to scrap a whole tour<\/a> and part ways with their management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the title suggests, \u2018No Rain, No Flowers\u2019 was born out of that struggle, and sees the duo adopt a positive perspective towards their past grievances \u2013 entering an uplifting new chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWe were extremely frustrated after we had a tour cancelled,\u201d frontman Dan Auerbach tells NME. \u201cThere was more to it than the tour, it\u2019s a big, long story, but ultimately making this record helped us work through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still feeling the negative effects of the relationship that we had to break up with. It still is under our skin and pisses us off, but making this record definitely was helpful. We needed to get in there and create, in order to work through our emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As well as using the record to shake off past agitations, it also introduces new collaborations. While their 2024 album saw them team up with huge names like Noel Gallagher<\/a> and Beck<\/a>, this time around, they have joined forces with some of the songwriting giants who operate behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

Rick Nowels, who worked with Auerbach on Lana Del Rey<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Ultraviolence<\/a>\u2019 took to the piano for the writing sessions, while others who helped craft the 11-song tracklist included Scott Storch [Dr. Dre<\/a>, Nas<\/a>] and Daniel Tashian [Kacey Musgraves<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Check out our interview with the band below, where they tell us about healing after the tour drama, working with their favourite songwriters, thoughts on new talent, and if we\u2019ll be seeing them at any Oasis<\/a> shows with their pal Noel this summer.<\/p>\n

NME: Hi Dan and Patrick. You\u2019re back with new music just one year on from \u2018Ohio Players\u2019. Why was this the right time for a new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan Auerbach:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aWell, we had a tour that got cancelled after we released \u2018Ohio Players\u2019 and we had all this unexpected time on our hands. We didn\u2019t plan on making a record, but that\u2019s what ended up happening! We got into the studio and decided to reach out to a couple people that we had always been interested in writing songs with. One of those people was Rick Knowles. I worked with him on Lana\u2019s record, and I thought he [had] a perfect mix of melancholy and pop.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sparked that interest to collaborate with songwriters this time around?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auerbach:<\/strong> \u201cEach has a different approach and a different style. Knowles for instance, is a piano player and we\u2019d not written with a piano player. So it was interesting to be 20 years into The Black Keys, and finding something we\u2019d never done before.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis whole writing style was very strange. For \u2018No Rain, No Flowers\u2019 he had me sing the words in space with no piano, no guitar, no drums. Nothing. We\u2019d never started a song that way, so it was interesting for us to be adapting to it. Each person involved is someone we\u2019ve admired for a long time, and the only thing they all have in common is that they\u2019re incredible songwriters that we really respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick Carney:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aIt was the same with Noel Gallagher on the last album. We\u2019ve been such big fans of him and his brother for a long time, and after we tried to write a song live in the studio, he told us that he\u2019d never just written like that before. I think that\u2019s a cool thing about collaboration \u2013 it\u2019s always different and it kind of puts you on the spot to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Black Keys \u2013 \u2018No Rain, No Flowers\u2019 artwork. CREDIT: Press<\/p>\n

You mentioned the 2024 tour cancellation being something that fuelled this record\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cWe had just put a-year-and-a-half into making an album that we were incredibly proud of, and we had given the people around us enough time to set it up properly. We allotted three and a half weeks for the European tour, but what was given to us was nine tour dates. We couldn\u2019t wrap our heads around it. You can\u2019t even pay for your crew and your flights with nine tour dates\u2026 That\u2019s why tours are like three weeks long, because you need like 15 [shows to break even]. The whole thing was just completely mismanaged and, basically, it ended unceremoniously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were playing three sold out nights at Brixton Academy when we could have done four, and two sold out nights at Zenith in Paris, and in Amsterdam we played to 14,000 people. But the whole tour got really mixed around [when] our manager wanted us to play a venue that they operated called the Co-op Live in Manchester. The whole tour kept getting moved around because this venue had no running water<\/a> \u2013 so basically our whole year got fucked because of the needs of our manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen all that shit went tits up and we got absolutely screwed 20+ years into the business, the only thing we had left to do was to go make more music and try to make the best out of it. You have to go and face some hard shit and try to make adjustments to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you feeling a newfound gratitude to be on the road again in 2025 in a way that feels right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auerbach:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aYeah, but I think we felt that way while we were making \u2018Ohio Players\u2019 too. We were coming out of COVID-19<\/a> and finally getting to book tours again. We felt beyond grateful\u2026 and then we had to go through and basically another epidemic. So now I guess we feel extra grateful! We\u2019re on tour in the US<\/a>, we\u2019ve done two weeks of sold out shows down the West coast and they\u2019ve been absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re going to places we\u2019ve never been to like Wilmington, North Carolina. It\u2019s a little town that we\u2019ve never played and 5,000 people want to come out to see us there. It\u2019s good to be able to get out in front of the people again and play music. It\u2019s definitely helping us heal. We\u2019ve gone from bars that hold 150 people through to almost every venue in most major cities. These venues that we\u2019re playing now though are definitely some of our favourites. They always have been.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Speaking of your journey, it was in the 2010s that you became a household name. What is it like looking back at that period now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cI remember we had gone from coming to London and playing to 30 people at the Camden Metro, through every venue until we were able to sell around 5,000 tickets. This is before \u2018Brothers\u2019 came out in 2010, and we thought we were at the top. Then that record hit a whole new level of success that we never really assumed to be possible, and we started playing arenas.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo band that we knew of was able to do an arena tour. Nirvana<\/a> never did a real arena tour. The White Stripes<\/a> never did an arena tour, so it was a whole new pressure cooker for us. It was very exciting, but at the same time, we were on 10 constantly. In 2012 we headlined Coachella<\/a>, Lollapalooza<\/a> and Austin City limits. We were direct support for Foo Fighters<\/a> too, and we had gotten all these opportunities that we had never had before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just said \u2018yes\u2019 to everything and it ended up burning us out. It was very draining, creatively. We were basically on tour from April 2010 to December 2014, and it was so intense that it fractured our relationship a little bit and it fractured all the relationships around us. There was too much emphasis on striking while the iron\u2019s hot, and no emphasis on health. It was like \u2018How about you do an arena tour around the entire world, and then also play every festival in the same year?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, 10 years on from that point, have you noticed that your sound has inspired a new generation of artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auerbach:<\/strong> \u201cDefinitely. We\u2019re touring with a band right now called The Heavy Heavy<\/a>, and they told us that we were big inspirations when they were starting out. We\u2019re [also seeing it because] we both dedicate our free time to working with young artists and trying to give them an extra head start. We started a label [Easy Eye Sound], moved to Nashville and opened a studio where we try to help artists get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on today\u2019s emerging artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201c\u200aWe listen to music from across the board all day long and there\u2019s definitely a tonne coming out right now that I love. It is a really weird time for music though, and it\u2019s probably really frustrating to be a young artist because everything rides on streaming numbers and things that you can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first started, there was no option for us to get played on the radio. There was no streaming. The first time we ever experienced exposure was from the John Peel radio show. That kind of shit is gone now, it\u2019s been replaced with playlists. It\u2019s a very hard fucking business. Like I said before, growing up, no bands I liked ever did an arena tour, so to be expected to do that as a \u2018normal level\u2019 of success is fucking psycho.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Black Keys, 2025. CREDIT: Press<\/p>\n

Do you think it is still possible for new talent to reach the same levels of success as the artists who came up before them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re friends with Clairo<\/a> and love watching the success that she\u2019s been having. So it is possible, it\u2019s definitely possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does the future look like for The Black Keys?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cWe are still just as excited to go into a studio and make a new song today as we were 20 years ago. Maybe even more now because we have more confidence and a broader range of ideas. We\u2019re having fun, but just trying to pace ourselves though, because this summer tour is probably the absolute max of what we can bite off. Our main goal is to keep it fun and to not burn out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of shows taking place this summer, will you be heading to see Noel Gallagher again on the Oasis reunion tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carney:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re missing them by a day everywhere! We\u2019re in Mexico City the day before they are, and we have an event in Nashville the next day, so we can\u2019t stick around. Then we\u2019re playing Manchester two days before their first show there, so we\u2019re \u200ajust missing it again!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited for them to be doing that, though. We had a hunch that they would be getting back together just based on the way that they both were speaking about each other in 2023. We love them both. They\u2019re so funny and, while we don\u2019t know them super well, we\u2019ve got to spend a little bit of time with them and they\u2019re so fucking fun. They\u2019re really smart, really funny guys. I\u2019m most excited for Paul Gallagher though, our real favourite Gallagher brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Black Keys are scheduled to play three outdoor UK shows this summer<\/a>, taking place at Leeds\u2019 Millennium Square, Manchester\u2019s Castlefield Bowl, and London\u2019s Alexandra Palace Park. Support will come from Miles Kane<\/a> and you can find any remaining tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They will also be embarking on a number of European shows<\/a> later this month and into the start of July. Visit here<\/a> for international tickets, and find a list of upcoming shows below.<\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

JUNE<\/strong>
26 \u2013 Tinderbox, Odense (Denmark)<\/strong>
29 \u2013 Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette (Luxembourg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

JULY<\/strong>
1 \u2013 Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin (Germany)<\/strong>
2 \u2013 The Hall, Zurich (Switzerland)<\/strong>
4 \u2013 Garorock, Marmande (France)<\/strong>
5 \u2013 Beauregard Festival, Herouville Saint Clair (France)<\/strong>
6 \u2013 La Nuit De L\u2019Erdre (France)<\/strong>
8 \u2013 Millennium Square, Leeds (UK)<\/strong>
9 \u2013 Castlefield Bowl, Manchester (UK)<\/strong>
11 \u2013 Alexandra Palace Park, London (UK)<\/strong>
12 \u2013 Cactus Festival, Bruges (Belgium)<\/strong>
13 \u2013 Bospop Festival, Weert (Netherlands)<\/strong>
15 \u2013 AMA Music Festival, Vicenza (Italy)<\/strong>
16 \u2013 Rock In Roma, Ippodromo Delle Capannelle, Rome (Italy)<\/strong>
19 \u2013 Fib Benic\u00e0ssim, Benic\u00e0ssim (Spain)<\/strong><\/p>\n