Graphic by Noemi Gonzalez.A couple days ago while I was sitting at my desk and scrolling through Twitter, I read words that had been missing from the world since 2011. The Black Keys was finally going to release a new single. It’s one of those bands I can’t say I still listen to very often. However, I fostered an addiction to them my sophomore year in college while walking from the light rail to my English class in Tempe. It was a long stretch of ground to cover coming from my internship downtown, and I had a solid hour and a half of peaceful solace to listen at will. The Black Keys albums would be on shuffle the whole span.
Can anything compete with “Lonely Boy”? I held my breath Monday as I sat and pressed play on the new single, “Fever.” It was good. It wasn’t great. But hey, they’re back, with an anticipated album release date of May 13 for its “Turn Blue” album.
It’s a good time to love music. A couple of weeks ago, Lykke Li decided to drop a spontaneous bomb on Facebook with the unexpected news of a new album for the first time since 2011’s “Wounded Rhythms.” She released a video teaser for the album as well, with the tracks “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone” and “No Rest For the Wicked” to follow. She is a true visionary with dramatically heart-wrenching power ballads and video imagery. The album “I Never Learn” is scheduled to release May 6.
I could (and I do) ramble about Chet Faker for hours, but there’s something to be said about an electronic-soul singer. I first learned about Faker when he did his cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” Covers of classics can be quite controversial, but Faker’s dedication to R&B shines through his soulful, bedroom sound. His “Thinking in Textures” album took off across the globe, and he’s set to release “Built on Glass” April 15. As a side note, he’ll be playing at none other than Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom May 31. Will I see you there?
Reach the blogger at inovak@asu.edu or on Twitter @IsabelleNovak.
