Delta Kream
If 2019’s *“Let’s Rock”* allowed The Black Keys to go back to basics with their blues-smoked garage rock, then on *Delta Kream*, they honor the source. “Any chance we get to turn people on hill country blues, we want to do that, because it means that much to us,” singer-songwriter-guitarist Dan Auerbach tells Apple Music. “We love this music and definitely feel a close connection to it.” Recorded during a two-day session in Nashville with local musicians Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton, the Nashville-by-way-of-Akron, Ohio duo’s 10th LP features reworkings of North Mississippi hill country blues standards they’ve been listening to since they were in their teens. Their passion for the genre shows in their raw and effortless performances—whether they turn John Lee Hooker’s “Crawling Kingsnake” into a six-minute incendiary jam or give the full treatment to R.L. Burnside’s “Mellow Peaches” with a soulful guitar interplay that rises into an intense crescendo. But for the most part, Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney are not interested in adding any bells and whistles, like on “Sad Days, Lonely Nights,” where they capture the live essence of Junior Kimbrough’s 1994 original. “Some of the best roots music are those spontaneous records,” Auerbach adds. “You can just feel this kind of nervous energy, but it was just fun.”
As Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney breezily enter their third decade together, they pay tribute to and put their own spin on the Mississippi blues, turning it into something that sounds supple and comforting.
The duo have never courted celebrity, and here they delve deeper than ever before into the swampy roots of their genre's forefathers
The Black Keys celebrate their heroes on their brilliant 10th album, while Sons of Kemet cement their standing as one of the UK’s most exciting and versatile acts
While the Black Keys have dipped into their love of Mississippi blues in the past, they bring their fascination with the Delta roots sounds to the fore with their heartfelt 2021 covers project Delta Kream.
The Black Keys have always sought to keep it simply. Two musicians, one guitar, and one drum kit, their blues-soaked sound owes more to the Hill Country
The album solidifies the Akron duo as one of the most vital and credible blues-rock bands active today.
Returning to the simpler joys of their early records, the Ohio duo’s 10th album covers songs by the north Mississippi artists that continue to inspire them
The blues-rock duo return to their roots for an off-the-cuff covers album. Review by Barney Harsent