New Album Review: The Black Keys- No Rain, No Flowers

The Black Keys- No Rain, No Flowers

Label: Warner

Producers: The Black Keys

The thirteenth studio album from rock darlings The Black Keys arrives swiftly on the heels of its 2024 predecessor, Ohio Players, a solid and even evolutionary record for the band that was unfortunately overshadowed by a year of chaos that ensued outside the studio; namely the abandonment of a scheduled arena tour and the subsequent firing of their management. While many artists may wish to retreat from the public eye in the period immediately such an upheaval, the Keys instead used the time originally devoted to the tour to create the material for No Rain, No Flowers, a body of work that found them seeking out new collaborative partnerships with the likes of pop-rock songwriter, Rick Nowels, Music City staple, Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves), and Hip-Hop producer, Scott Storch (Beyonce, 50 Cent).

Initially, the most notable quality about No Rain, No Flowers is how overtly subdued and pensive it feels in comparison to the rest of the Black Keys’ catalog, which appropriately tracks given the band events of the past eighteen months. That’s not to say that members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have never taken an introspective approach to their music, as there’s plenty of such moments littered across their twelve preceding records. This album however just carries a more prominently slow-burning, pulsating groove throughout. This atmosphere is established tremendously with the opening title cut, which presents the perfect mantra of perseverance that has no doubt aided the Keys in navigating recent obstacles. Meanwhile, the sonics of the song itself splendidly combine Carney’s somber yet resilient guitar riffs with one of Auerbach’s signature haunting, rainy-day vocals. It’s a moody backdrop that they build on solidly on later moments like “Babygirl”, with its captivating spooky piano, and “Down to Nothing”, which is a snarling feast of noir-istic guitar and bluesy organ. Other high-points likewise reveal themselves with “Make You Mine”, a luminously hypnotic detour into disco-tinged rock-soul, and “Man On A Mission”, which feels precisely like vintage Keys. It’s fuzzy, bluesy garage-rock that roars with the same growl as “Lonely Girl”, and reigns as the album’s best (and one of its only) classic Keys jam sessions.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the record is extremely out of balance with these stronger moments. The problem is not that the album rarely, if ever, reaches the electrified heights of anything from El Camino-forward, not to mention any of the grittier, grimier moments of the far -less commercial records that preceded their mainstream breakthrough. There is a fanbase of loyalists, as with most rock bands, that will bitch and moan whenever said band ventures outside of their original sonic realm. The problem with half of No Rain is not its more subdued aura, but rather the seeming lack of passion with which it is executed. Middling performances like lead single, “The Night Before”, as well as “On Repeat” or “Kiss It” just feel void of the usual conviction and fire of a Black Keys performance, particularly in Auerbach’s typically enthralling vocal deliveries. There’s a palpable fire missing, as if the disappointments of 2024 did in fact rob the band of a share of their inspiration. These tracks just carry an unavoidable sense of tentative complacence with each listen. They’re simply below the band’s weight-class.

This doesn’t necessarily mean these are bad recordings, or that No Rain, No Flowers is an outright bad album. It’s just that much of it isn’t durably memorable. There are moments of sparks and sizzle, but also plenty of those that fizzle out in a manner not typically associated with The Black Keys. In an era where EP-length records have become more fashionable, it would have probably been wise for the duo to go such a cherry-picking route with this project, and whittling it down to the aforementioned highlights. The way the project ultimately stands however, No Rain, No Flowers emerges as the least realized LP of their catalog.

Track Listing:

1. “No Rain, No Flowers” (Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Rick Nowels)
2. “The Night Before” (Auerbach, Carney, Daniel Tashian)
3. “Babygirl” (Auerbach, Carney, Tashian, Scott Storch)
4. “Down to Nothing” (Auerbach, Carney, Tommy Brenneck, Pat McLaughlin, Leon Michels)
5. “On Repeat” (Auerbach, Carney, Nowels)
6. “Make You Mine” (Auerbach, Carney, Storch, Desmond Child)
7. “Man On A Mission” (Auerbach, Carney, Tashian)
8. “Kiss It” (Auerbach, Carney, Nowels)
9. “All My Lie” (Auerbach, Carney, Tashian)
10. “A Little Too High” (Auerbach, Carney, Brenneck, McLaughlin, Michels)
11. “Neon Moon” (Auerbach, Carney, Tashian, Brenneck, Michels)