Credit: Alysse Gafkjen
It’s been five long years since the Black Keys, the garage-blues duo that formed in Akron in 2001, released any new music. Earlier today, the group returned with “Lo/Hi,” a hard rocking new single that it recorded at singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Studio in Nashville.

Since their last album together, Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have been involved with various projects.

Auerbach, who’s released two solo albums, formed the Easy Eye Sound record label in 2017. Since its launch, Easy Eye Sound has become home to artists such as Yola, Shannon & the Clams, Dee White, Shannon Shaw, Sonny Smith, Robert Finley and the Gibson Brothers.

Carney has produced and recorded new music with artists such as Calvin Johnson, Michelle Branch, Damns of the West, Tobias Jesso, Jr., Jessy Wilson, Tennis, Repeat Repeat, Wild Belle, Sad Planets and Turbo Fruits. He also created the theme music for the Netflix show BoJack Horseman with his late uncle, Akron native Ralph Carney.

This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2019.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.