Akron, Ohio duo The Black Keys have shared their first new music of 2024. ”Beautiful People (Stay High)” will appear on their new album, Ohio Players, a title inspired by the legendary Dayton, Ohio funk band of the same name. The new track was co-written by the Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney with Beck and Dan the Automator.
The new album, their first since 2022’s Dropout Boogie, will be released April 5 via Nonesuch and Warner. Noel Gallagher also appears on the new project. Auerbach said in a press release, “We’d never worked harder to make a record. It’s never taken us this long to make an album. We took our time and did it right.”
“What we wanted to accomplish with this record was make something that was fun,” Carney added. “And something that most bands 20 years into their career don’t make, which is an approachable, fun record that is also cool. We had this epiphany. We can call our friends to help us make music. It's funny because we both write songs with other people – Dan all the time [as a solo artist and producer], me when I'm producing a record. That's what we do."
Auerbach added "No matter who we work with, it never feels like we're sacrificing who we are. It only feels like it adds some special flavor. We just expanded that palette with people we wanted to work with. We were there to support them and their ideas, to do whatever we could to see that moment flourish. But when it came time to finish the album, it was just Pat and me."
