''Dropout Boogie'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock duo

the Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

. It was released on May 13, 2022, by Easy Eye Sound and

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

. The album was preceded by the release of two singles: the lead single "Wild Child", which was released on March 10, 2022, in conjunction with the album announcement, and "It Ain't Over", which was released on April 27, 2022. ''Dropout Boogie'' received favorable reviews from music critics and was nominated for

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...

at the

65th Annual Grammy Awards The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It will recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2021, to September 30 ...

Background

Work for ''Dropout Boogie'' began in summer of 2021, which initially saw the Black Keys plan ideas for the album as a duo before recruiting multiple musicians to collaborate with them such as

Greg Cartwright Greg Cartwright, also known by his stage name Greg Oblivian (born March 18, 1972), is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. From 2001 to 2022 he fronted Reigning Sound which was signed to Merge Records. After m ...

Reigning Sound Reigning Sound was an American rock and roll band originally based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States As of 2019, along with fronting Reigning Sound, Cartwright also reformed his past band Greg Oblivian and the Tip Tops. In 2020, he also refor ...

and

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

, the latter a longtime friend of the duo. The album was recorded at

Dan Auerbach Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...

's Easy Eye Sound studio in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Promotion

Singles

The album's lead single "Wild Child" was released on March 10, 2022. The song topped ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Adult Alternative Airplay Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart. The second single from the album, "It Ain't Over", was released on April 27, 2022.

Tour

To promote the album, the Black Keys will embark on the Dropout Boogie Tour, which consisted of 32 dates across the United States with

Band of Horses Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also includ ...

as a supporting act alongside Ceramic Animal, Early James, and the Velveteers as opening acts on select dates.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Dropout Boogie'' received positive acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream publications, the album has a score of 73 based on 12 critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

Personnel

The Black Keys *

– vocals, bass, guitar,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

(all tracks); synthesizer (1, 2, 6),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

(5) *

Patrick Carney Patrick James Carney (born April 15, 1980) is an American musician and producer best known as the drummer of the Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. Early life Carney's father, Jim, is a retired reporter for the '' Akron Beacon Journ ...

– drums, production (all tracks); bass (1), guitar (1, 4), synthesizer (1–3, 6), percussion (2, 3, 5, 9) Additional musicians * Andy Gabbard – background vocals (1–3, 5–10),

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

(1), piano (7), guitar (5, 7) * Sam Bacco – percussion (1–7, 9, 10) * Ray Jacildo – Hammond organ (3, 6);

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

, piano (6) *

Sierra Ferrell Sierra Ferrell (born August 3, 1988) is a singer, songwriter, and musician from West Virginia whose music incorporates elements of country, gypsy jazz, folk, and Latin styles such as tango and calypso music. In 2021, she released her debut album ...

– background vocals (4) * Billy F Gibbons – featured guitar (5) Technical *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering * Steve Fallone – mastering *

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arct ...

– mixing,

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Tom Elmhirst Tom Elmhirst (born 8 June 1971) is a British mix engineer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Beck, David Bowie, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Residente, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. Elmhirst has received numerous accolades a ...

– mixing, editing * Caleb VanBuskirk –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* M. Allen Parker – engineering * Jonny Ullman – engineering assistance * McKinley James – engineering assistance * Tyler Zwiep – engineering assistance Imagery * Perry Shall – design and layout * Jim Herrington – photography

Charts

References

{{The Black Keys 2022 albums The Black Keys albums Albums produced by Dan Auerbach Albums produced by Patrick Carney Nonesuch Records albums